Shoujo Fullmetal Alchemist
by NaokoElric2250
Summary: When Edwina and Alphonsa Elric try to perform Human Transmutation, something went drastically wrong. Now, a few years later, they must find a way to restore themselves. Fem!Ed, Fem!Al, Male!Winry, Fem!Roy, Male!Riza, and others. Based on Manga/2009 Anime.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

_**The Two Alchemists and the City of Heresy**_

The barman switched on the radio that was on the shelf above him.

"_To thy children of God who live in the world, pray and believe you will be saved. The Sun God Leto shines his light on you to show you the way…"_

The fifteen-year-old girl, who was sitting at the bar eating a meal, sighed. She hated religious things. Her little sister, who was sitting next to her, did not really mind subject of the audio broadcast.

The older sister had hip-length, light golden-blonde hair tied back in a low braid. Her bangs, parted in the middle, reached her chin and framed her face. A single stand at the centre of the partings stood up like a cowlick. The girl's eyes were the same shade as her hair. The girl, though small for her age, (four foot, ninety inches) had a slender, slightly muscular figure.

Edwina was dressed in her usual outfit: A black, sleeveless top covered with a black jacket with a white trim that fastened with a single, sliver clasp just under the high collar. The jacket was tucked in tight-fitting, leather trousers held up by a thick, brown, leather belt. On her feet, the girl wore black, leather boots with flat red soles that went half way to her knees and had a zip running from halfway to the top of the boots, and white gloves on her hands. Over this outfit, the girl wore a bright red, hooded cloak whose tail came down to her upper calves. Emblazoned in black on the back was a flamel.

The girl's year-younger little sister looked rather different to her older sibling. She was more on the odd side of appearances.

She appeared to be wearing a two-metre tall, dark grey, suit of armour. The helmet of the armour had glowing, half-moon eyes, a proroguing chin, and a zigzag mouth. The top of the helmet also sported a ribbon of white hair that hung down to the small of the suit's back.

The body of the armour consisted of a removable breastplate with a protruding, triangular piece on the chest just below the throat guard. A high collar that extended out of the back and surrounded the rear and sides of the neck, with a large, brown, circular leather patch on either side of the abdomen. It certainly did not look like your average suit of armours, and was wider than a normal human being was.

The suit had large black leather hands, pointed feet, three spikes jutting out of each shoulder, elbows and knees, one of which had a red flamel painted on one.

Finally, a white breechcloth covered the groin area.

The little sister was glad of the fact that not very many people questioned the fact that she wore armour, and she was complacent with this, as it was a difficult thing, explaining why she wore it.

"Are you two street performers?" the barman the two sisters.

"Ok, old man, where exactly did you did get _that_ idea?" the older girl demanded to know, after briefly choking on her glass of orange juice.

"I guess I'm wrong then, but that's what you look like to me."

The golden-blonde girl finished her meal in a hurry. "Thanks for the meal."

The two of them went to stand up. As the young girl straightened up, her metal head collided with the shelf the radio sat on, knocking it on the floor and smashing it to pieces.

"Hey now, miss!" the barman cried. "This is what happens when you're dressed in such a ridiculous outfit!"

"Oh, I'm so sorry, sir!" the fourteen-year-old shrieked her hollow, slightly echoing, ten-year-old voice. "This armour is special to me. It saved my life a few years ago."

"We'll fix the radio for you," the blonde said.

"And how are you going to that?" the sceptical man said.

"Just watch."

The armour girl wanted to smile kindly, but knew she could not with the body she had. Gathering the broken pieces of the radio into a small pile, she then took out a piece of chalk and began drawing a strange circular symbol underneath the object. Once she was finished, she stood up and raised her hands.

By now, a throng of the desert-side town of Reole's residents had gathered to see what all the commotion was concerning.

"Here I go!" the armour girl said, then crossed her hands over one another. What seemed to be blue lightening appeared from her hands and hit the broken radio, causing a flash of light and dust clouds to form and the crowd to reel back.

After a few seconds, the dust cleared, and sitting in the middle of the circular symbol was the radio, looking good as new. It may have looked fixed. Did it work? There was a few more seconds of silence. Then the solemn voice spoke again. "_As the avatar of Leto, I am your father…_"

"How's that for you?" The older sister asked.

"That's astonishing!" the barmen gasped, while the crowd looked on. "You are able to perform miracles, too?"

"Say what?"

"We're alchemists," the younger girl explained.

"I've never seen alchemy before. So that's what it looks like," one man in the throng said.

"You've never heard of us? The name 'Elric Sisters' doesn't ring any bells?" Edwina asked, her and her little's sister hands on their hips.

"'Elric Sisters'?" the confused man said.

"Actually, I have," another man in the crowd said. "The older one is one of those State Alchemists. She's Edwina's Elric, the 'Fullmetal Alchemist' right?"

The crowd gathered around the armour girl and showered her with all their attention and praise.

"I understand. Your State name is 'Fullmetal Alchemist' because you wear this metal suit," one person said.

"You're famous, right?" said another.

"No, no. You've got it wrong. I'm not the Fullmetal Alchemist," The girl pointed to the blonde. "She is."

"What? That short, flat-chested girl?" one man said.

The older girl, now recognized as Edwina Elric, snapped. She _hated _anyone making comments about her height or breasts, or lack there of.

Storming over to the unfortunate man, Edwina punched hard him in the face causing him to fly backwards and slam onto the ground.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A TINY SPECK WHO GIRLS GO LESBIAN FOR AS THEY THINK SHE'S A BOY IF THEY ARE ABLE TO SEE HER?" the enraged girl shrieked. "_I _am Edwina Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist!"

"I'm her little sister, Alphonsa Elric," the armour girl said.

It was times like these where the contrasting personalities of the Elric sisters could be seen.

They were both equally intelligent young women, but Edwina had a short temper, a loud mouth, and was violent, while Alphonsa was spot-spoken, level-headed, and quiet.

Edwina was also the more skilled alchemist.

After Edwina had stopped ranting and things had settled down, the two girls sat back downs at the bar.

"_Have faith and thy prayers will be answered…_" The man on the radio continued.

"Who is that on the broadcast?" Edwina asked.

That barman and the rest of the citizens looked shocked. "T-that is Founder Cornello, the avatar of Leto…how could you not know that?"

"If I knew I wouldn't have asked," Edwina said.

"He came here a few years ago to teach us the way of God," one man explained. "He said that if we believe, God will grant the living eternity and resurrect the dead. He proves this though his miracles."

"'Resurrect the dead' huh? Seems fishy to me," Edwina remarked.

"Well, well, things are busy today," said a cheerful, female voice.

"Oh, hello there, Rosé," the barman greeted the young woman as she approached the bar. She smiled in response.

The woman had pale skin, purple eyes, and long black hair with dark pink bangs parted in the centre. She was dressed simply in a white, sleeveless dress and slip-on sandals with some bangles around one wrist.

"Off to the church again, Rosé?" the barman asked.

"Yes, I'm going to give some offerings," the woman replied, moving her paper bag to show her wallet, then noticed the Elrics. "Oh, I've never seen you two before."

"They are alchemists, and they seem to be looking for something," the man explained before either of the girls could answer.

"Oh, well, I'd love to help you, follow me!" the woman said and set off.

"That girl, she doesn't have any relatives," the bar tender explained to Edwina and Alphonsa. "To make matters worse, her boyfriend died in an accident. You'd think she'd be sad, but she was saved by the teachings of Founder Cornello."

The two sisters looked at each other before heading in the direction in which the young resident of Reole had gone.

* * *

"May all the children of Leto be blessed with his holy light," Father Cornello finished his speech for that day, and closed the book he was holding.

"Excellent as usual, Founder," Accountant Clay, a worker of the Leto Church, and Cornello's right hand man, said.

The Founder nodded.

He was a rather old priest and had a completely bald head, a shaven face and rather plump stomach. He, just like all the priests, was wearing a black priest's robe with a white undergarment. What made him different for other priests, though, was the strange ring on his left hand that had a red stone engraved on it.

"Founder?" Rosé said quietly, politely knocked on the door to the broadcast room.

"Oh, come in Rosé," the kind-looking man said.

Rosé entered and placed her financial offering on the desk.

"It's the usual as always," she said.

"As good as always though," said Cornello.

"Yes, and if what I want c-comes true…" the girl trailed off.

"It's OK, Rosé," the man said, gently placing his hands on the young woman's shoulders. "I understand what you are trying to say. God will note your good conduct,"

"Then will it…?"

"Yes. But not yet. Now is still not the time."

"I…I understand, Founder."

Her head lowered, Rosé left to go to the main church hall.

She knelt down in front of the alter, behind which was a huge statue of Leto, hands clasped in prayer, while sun streamed in from the window before her.

"God…please listen to me…" the young woman whispered. "Please bring back–"

"So this is the Sun God Leto, huh?"

Rosé looked behind her and saw a golden-blonde-haired girl and a person wearing a suit of armour.

"Oh, I met you earlier, didn't I?" she rhetorically asked the two, as she turned and stood up. "My name is Rosé Thomas. Are you interested in the Leto religion?"

"My name is Edwina Elric, and no, I'm not interested. I am an atheist," Edwina stated bluntly.

"That isn't good," Rosé replied. "Believing in the existence of and honouring God, along with living a life of gratitude…it's so wonderful. If you believe, I'm sure you will grow taller and look more like a young woman instead of a child."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

Alphonsa grabbed her sister while saying, "She didn't mean it in a bad way!"

Edwina sighed and sat down on a bench. "Do you truly believe the dead can be resurrected?"

"Of course! God can do anything!"

The young alchemist sighed again. She reached in her red coat, pulled and a small, leather-bond book, opened at a page, and began to read.

"Thirty-five litres of water. Twenty grams of carbon. Four litres of ammonia. One-point-five kilograms of lime. Eight-hundred grams of phosphorous. Two-hundred and fifty grams of salt. One-hundred grams of saltpetre. Eighty grams of sulphur. Seven-point-five grams of fluorine. Five grams of iron. Three gram of silicon, and traces of fifteen other elements."

"Huh? What is that a list of?" Rosé asked, the elements and measurements flying around in her mind in a confusing manner.

The older Elric snapped the book shut. "These are the ingredients that make an average human adult body."

"B-but, how do you know that?"

"We scientists know this because of our advances. But despite these hundreds of years of research, there is still yet to be a successful case of the creation of a living human from these elements, you see. You may say it's a wasted effort, but it is much better than just praying and hoping. You really think that praying will do something that even science cannot? You really think waiting and hoping will bring back your boyfriend?"

"You're so arrogant! 'Pray and your wishes will be!' That is what the Founder said!"

"Oh, by the way, you can buy all the basic ingredients for a human with a child's pocket money. Humans are pretty cheaply made."

"How could you be so blasphemous? Humans are not objects! You will be divinely punished for such words!"

Edwina tittered. "Alchemists _are _scientists after all. We do not believe in divine creators or God. We explain the fundamentals of the world and peruse the truth. It's ironic that we scientists do not believe in God, yet we are the closest thing to God."

"Stop with this ignorance!" Rose snapped. "You think you are God's equal?"

"Ignorance, eh? I remember this from a legend: A hero made himself wings from bird feathers and wax. However, he flew too close to the sun, cussing the wax to melt and destroy his wings. Thus, he plummeted to his death," Edwina said.

"Huh?" The woman was confused once again.

Later on, at midday, Cornello had gone outside of the church where a crowd was awaiting him. The Elric sisters had left Rosé to her own devices.

Cornello's first "miracle" of that day was to cause cherry blossom petals to fell from the sky, to which the crowd cheered. He then caught one of the petals and with a flash of light from the red stone on the ring on his finger, turned it into a long ribbon bearing full cherry blossom flowers that wound around the status of Leto behind him.

"So that's what those people were talking about," Edwina, who was elevated on her suitcase amongst the crowd, said. "What do you think?" she turned to her metal little sister.

"From the transmutation response it's pretty obvious that he is using alchemy," Alphonsa replied.

"Yes, but he's completely ignoring Equivalent Exchange. I mean, it's the funding law of alchemy: In order to obtain, you must give something of equal value in exchange."

"And he changed a flower petal into a different material. Nee-san, could it be…?"

"Yes, it just might," Edwina looked closer and spotted the red stone on the priests ring. "Bingo."

"What are you two talking about?"

The two girls jumped and turned around. There, standing behind them, having listened to their entire conversation - was Rosé.

"What is this about 'Equivalent Exchange'?" the religious woman asked.

"Never mind. You should not eavesdrop on others," Edwina answered "But you know, Rosé-san, I think I am interested in this religion now. I want to repent for what I believe!"

"Ah, so you want to become a follower? Yes, I'm certain the Founder will accept you," Rosé replied happily.

* * *

Clay knocked on Father Cornello's room door. The man had just recently returned, having finished impressing the townspeople for one day.

"Come in."

Clay entered.

"Founder, there are people who are requesting a meeting with you," he explained. "There is two of them. A child and an armoured woman. They call themselves 'the Elric Sisters'."

"Tell them to go home. I am busy," Cornello said.

Clay went to carry out his orders.

"Wait! Did you say 'Elric Sisters'? Edwina Elric…oooooh this is bad." The priest shook his head.

"Yes, sir. Edwina Elric is the girl's name. Do you know her?" the accountant asked.

"Of course I do! She is the Fullmetal Alchemist, Edwina Elric!"

"What? You mean that little brat is– but she's only fifteen!"

"Idiot! Age is irrelevant went it comes to being an alchemist," The Founder took a deep and brought his hands together before continuing. "It really is that rumoured brat. I heard she managed to obtain the licence to become a National State Alchemist aged just twelve."

"What is a State Alchemist doing here anyway?" Clay asked, then leaned in closer said in a lowered voice, "Could it be that they know of our plan?"

"Hm…the Dogs of the Military have good noses," Cornello remarked.

"Should I send her and sister away?"

"No. That would look too suspicious. How about…" A smirk formed on the man's features as he spoke. "How about they never came here? How does that sound?"

The accountant also smirked, catching onto his boss's plan. "As long as God is content."

Clay then left and returned to the Elrics and Rosé. "The Founder will see you. You two are lucky; he is a very busy man. Come with me."

Clay lead the three girls into a large, dull lightly room. The only source of light was the flame torches that were dotted about the place.

"Sorry, I won't be too long," Edwina said as she, Alphonsa and Clay entered the room.

"Yes, this will end quite soon," the dark-haired accountant stated, his voice suddenly malevolent.

Suddenly Clay spun around to Alphonsa, taking something out of his robe.

_BANG!_

A bullet hit Alphonsa in the centre of her helmet. The half-moon-shaped eyes lost their light as both it and the armour body crashed on the stone floor with a loud clatter.

The older Elric rushed forwards to disarm Clay - but was stopped by two men in white robes crossing large spears across the front of her neck, trapping her in place.

"Brother Clay, what is the meaning of this?" Rosé demanded.

"These girls are evil demons, Rosé. They are heretics who are planning to ensure the Founder."

"No, that cannot be! If that was so, the Founder would _never_ allow th–"

"He _has _allowed this," Clay snapped the young woman. "The Founder's words are the words of God." He pointed the gun at Edwina's head. "This is God's will."

He was about to fire - when a leather and metal hand grabbed the gun, crushing and misshaping the barrel so it could no longer work.

"That wasn't very nice, mister."

Clay slowly turned his head to the right. Standing there, its head still missing - was the suit of armour.

The blonde alchemist used this distraction to her advantage. Quick as a flash, she threw off one of one of the men who were restraining her, using his own spear as leverage. She turned to face the other man, who prepared himself.

The younger Elric pulled the damaged gun out of Clay's hand and punched him in the mouth, breaking some of his teeth, while Edwina began pummelling the other man who had been restraining her. After only a few minutes of fighting, both Clay and one of the men in white robes were down. The last remaining man tried to make a run for it, but to no avail. The blonde alchemist picked up her little's sister's helmet and threw it at the man's head, knocking him out.

"Strike!" the girl cheered.

"My head!" the young alchemist cried, catching the helmet.

"W-w-what? What's going on?" Rosé cried with a shriek, pointing at Alphonsa.

"Nothing much really," Edwina said, banging on the empty container. It clanked loudly.

"This is what it always looks like," the armour girl said.

"It's hollow inside…" The woman placed her hands over her mouth.

"This is what becomes of someone who trespasses on God's domain," the younger alchemist explained as she re-attached the helmet to the body of the metal shell. "Nee-san was punished too."

"Edwina…too?" The woman looked at the older girl.

"Let's stop now, please. That's a story for another day," Edwina said, scratching the back of her head. "You see, we are the true result of God's nature."

"B-but, there must be some mistake!" Rosé said.

The older alchemist sighed. _That woman's seen so much and yet she still believes in that fraud of a Founder?_

Edwina turned to the dark-pink-and-black haired woman. "Rosé, are you ready to face the truth?"

Later on, the Elrics sisters stood in front of a door.

"So, this is the Founder's room that Rosé told us about," Alphonsa though aloud.

As if knowing they were there, the door creaked open.

"You're supposed to say 'welcome'," Edwina said as the two of the entered the room. Once they had the middle of the room, the doors closed with a click, indicating their locking.

"Welcome to our holy church," said a solemn voice belonging to a man standing on a platform between two raising sets of stairs and one that descended onto the floor. "Have you come to experience our teachings?"

"We have a lot of things we would like to learn actually," the older female alchemist answered. "For example, like tricking your believers with cheap alchemy!"

"Hm…I wonder what you might be speaking of. Putting my miracles on the same level as alchemy poses a bit of a problem. If you saw any of my miracles you would understand–"

"I've already seen them! What I don't get at all is how you were able to transmute something while ignoring the laws."

"That is why it is not alchemy."

"You have and are using it, aren't you? The legendary amplifier that allows an alchemist to perform transmutations without Equivalent Exchange."

"Using what?"

"The Philosopher's Stone! It's on that ring isn't it?"

There were a few moments of silence.

"I'd expect nothing less from a State Alchemist," Cornello finally said. "You are correct. This is indeed the legendary Philosopher's Stone."

"That's good," Edwina replied, a grin on her face. "I've being looking for that."

"What do you want it for? Are you going to use it for fame? Money?"

"Correction: why do _you_ want it? You used it to create a fraudulent religion. If you want money you can use the stone to get as much as you want."

"I do want money, but I get that as donations from my followers. I need obedient follow willing to give up their lives for me. The greatest army in the world! One which doesn't fear death! I've steadily advanced my preparations! In a few years time, this country will be mine!" The Leto Region Founder yelled full-heartedly.

The blonde sighed. "I don't care."

"What?" cried the man.

"Don't just brush off my plans with such few words!" Cornello shouted. "Aren't you a member of the Military which protects this country?"

"Yes, and I don't care about your plans. They don't make any sense and will never work, so I'll get straight to the point. Hand over the Philosopher's Stone and I won't reveal your fraudulence to the residents of this town."

""Ha! You're trying to bargain with me?" the priest laughed. "My followers won't believe a word from the likes of you! They love me! No matter what you say, they will not listen! They have been completely fooled by me!"

"Well done! I'd expect nothing less from the Founder. Thank you for such a wonderful speech," Edwina said, clapping her hand. "You're right. We're newcomers and people don't know us. They won't believe a single word we say. But…" she turned and pointed at Alphonsa, who undid her breastplate and let it fall to the floor. "What about the things _she_ says?"

Inside the armour, in a rather cramped position, was Rosé.

"Founder!" Rosé shouted as she climbed out of the armour. "Is what you say true? Have you really tricked us all? You really weren't going to bring back my boyfriend?" Tears began to well up in the woman's eyes.

"Well, perhaps I did lie about being a messenger of God," Cornello said. "But with this stone, the transmutation of living organisms - which so many other alchemists have failed at - is possible. That means there is a possibility that your lover can be revived!"

"Rose-san, don't listen to him!" Alphonsa said to the woman.

"Be a good girl and come here," Cornello said, holding out his hand.

"If you go, you won't be able to come back!" Edwina cried.

"What's wrong? You are one of us," Cornello stated.

"Rose, don't!" the armour girl called.

Rose trembled violently were she stood, her arms drawn to her chest.

"Am I not the only one who can grant your wish? Remember your beloved!" The priest cried.

After a few more minutes, Rose walked slowly to Cornello, her arms at her side and her head bowed.

The other two girls said nothing.

"I'm sorry you two," Rosé said sadly, now standing next to the platform Cornello stood on.

"Good girl, Rosé," Cornello said. "Now, I will have to purge these heretics that threaten the future of my religion with haste."

He reached behind him and pulled a leaver, which in turn caused a gate near the Elrics to raise open. Out from the shadows, stepped a creature with glowing red eyes. It had the front half of a lion, the black half of a bird and the tail of a reptile.

"Have you ever seen a chimera?" Cornello asked the girls. "They are created using the Philosopher's Stone."

The creature prowled in a circle, its eyes firmly fixed on its prey. Rosé had backed away a good distance.

The red-coat-wearing alchemist sighed. "Guess I should arm myself."

She clapped her hands together and placed them on the floor. From her where her hand touched the floor, bright blue lightening admitted and a small wind circled the area. From that area, a large metal spear, one almost as tall as the girl, rose from the ground and the girl grasped it tightly. "Al, you stay back. I'll take care of this."

"Ok, Nee-san," Alphonsa replied, a little nervous.

"You created a weapon without the use of a Transmutation Circle?" the Founder cried, startled. "I see that 'State Alchemist' isn't just a fancy name. Nevertheless, you will be defeated!" he turned to the chimera, "Get her!"

The chimera did as it was told and, with a roar, changed toward Edwina, hungry for bloodshed.

The girl tried to use the spear to fend off the abomination of nature, but much to her surprise, it clawed though the metal as if it were butter and slashed her left leg, ripping the trouser fabric. Luckily, no blood came from the leg. "Urg…" the girl gasped, stumbling.

"Edwina-san!" Rosé screamed.

"What's the matter? Don't you like the feeling of claws that can cut through iron?" Cornello taunted sarcastically.

"Is that all? Ha! I was only kidding!" the girl told the animal and the priest.

Cornello was surprised again as the chimera's claws broke off and fell to the floor. The creature, however, was undeterred.

"This leg is a bit special!" Edwina cried, kicked the now once again attacking chimera in the stomach with the very leg it had tried to gouge.

"Hmph!" Cornello said. "Your claws don't work! Bite her!" he ordered the beast.

The creature charged again and this time got it latched onto the girl's arm using its teeth and bit down sharply.

Rosé looked away as the chimera started to chew. She expected to hear the alchemist girl scream in pain - but she heard no other sound apart from the chimera gnawing on the girl's arm.

Rosé looked back around to see the chimera hanging off of the girl's arm, biting and chomping furiously, but there appeared to be no damage.

"What's the matter?" Edwina asked the animal. "Confused? Can't a get good enough taste?" she hissed, then threw the beast off her ands punched it as hard as she could to the floor, cracking its skull, and killing it.

"What?" gasped Cornello. "How can this be possible? You weren't damaged by its teeth or claws?"

Edwina ignored him and turned to the woman near him. "Rosé, watch closely."

She peeled off the remains of her red coat and black jacket. "This is the result of stepping into God's forbidden domain! Behold! The body of a sinner!"

She threw the coat and jacket to one side, revealing a metal limb that had a port going over her shoulder, in place of her right arm. Rosé also noticed metal through the torn fabric of the left trouser leg. Her eyes widened in shock and she clamped her hands over her mouth.

"I see…" said Cornello. "Artificial limbs of steel know as 'Automail'. A little sister who is but a soul in an empty shell…" Realisation hit him. "So _that's _why you are called the Fullmetal Alchemist! Because of your automail limbs!"

"Come down here, you third rate!" Edwina challenged, brandishing the mechanical hand in a fist. "I'll show you how inferior your skills are compared to mine!"

"Rosé, these people have done something forbidden to all alchemists. A taboo act called 'Human Transmutation!" Cornello cried. "They tried to revive the dead! But they failed!"

"Yes, we did fail. It was our mother we tried to bring back. I lost my left leg," Edwina said.

"And I lost my entire body. Then Nee-san traded her arm for my soul, and fixed to this armour," Alphonsa finished.

Rosé remembered Edwina's earlier story: "_A hero made himself wings from bird feathers and wax. However, he flew too close to the sun, cussing the wax to melt and destroy his wings. Thus, he plummeted to his death_."

"No way…" she whispered.

"Rosé," Edwina said, turning to the woman. "Are you prepared to end up like this? Do you have the guts? Well, do you?"

The woman did not speak.

Cornello laughed and said, "After this you become a State Alchemist, Edwina Elric? You made me laugh!"

"Shut up, third rate! Without the Philosopher's Stone you would not be able to do anything!" Edwina snapped back.

"I see. And if you obtain the stone, your Human Transmutation would be a success?"

"Don't get the wrong idea, Baldy! We want it so we can regain our original bodies! What I want most is for Al to be human again and for me to be the way I used to be."

"So Founder-san, we ask one more time: Give us the Philosopher's Stone while you are still unhurt," Alphonsa said, trying to be polite, even if it was at a time like this.

"You fools came close to God, but fell back to earth. Very well, I send you to him myself!" the priest proclaimed.

With that, he transmuted his stick in a large, multi-barrel gun and began to fire. Rosé screamed.

Edwina swiftly foiled the priest's attempt to kill by transmuting a wall of stone to block the bullets.

"God seems to hate me," Edwina said from the safety of behind the wall. "He would properly just send me straight back."

"You little…" Cornello hissed and started firing again.

Rosé screamed as the bullets came very near her. Alphonsa darted over to the woman and much to her surprise and relief, lifted her into her arms and protected her from gunfire. Rosé simply screwed her eyes shut, hoping she would escape the room alive.

"Al! We're going!" Edwina called as she run towards the door.

"Idiots!" Cornello cried. "That door won't open unless I activate a switch here. You are trapped!"

"Want a bet?" Edwina called back.

Running up to a wall, she placed her hands on it, and, with the usual flash of alchemic lightening, transmuted a new door.

"WHAT?" Cornello screamed.

Edwina smashed the door open and the two sisters, one carrying a still screaming Rosé, run out of it and down the corridor. They did not notice the startled church workers they were running past.

"Why are you all just standing there? Those two are heretics that want to destroy our religion! Do not worry about Rosé," Cornello, still holding his gun, shouted to the workers.

The workers moved to the end of the corridor, blocking the Elric's path.

"Hey, children, want to fight us unarmed?" one of the men holding a gun challenged.

The golden-eyed alchemist simply laughed and clapped her hands together placing one on her automail arm. Part of the top of the forearm of the mechanical limb moulded into a blade that reached past the girl's mechanical hand.

Two men screamed like little girls as they were slashed by the older Elric and knocked out of the way by the younger Elric like bowling pins.

"They're strong!" said another church employee.

"Don't hold simply because they are girls!" a priest commanded.

Seconds later, he was on the ground, half his teeth missing, having suffered a kick from the armour girl.

The Elrics sisters run until the corridors were empty.

"Oh?" Edwina suddenly said, skidding to a halt. Alphonsa nearly banged into her older sister as she came to a stop. They were standing next to a room filled with radio equipment.

"What is this room?" Edwina asked Rosé as Alphonsa lowered her to the floor.

"It's the broadcast room. The Founder uses it for his sermons," Rosé explained.

"Really?" the older Elric sister said, rubbing her chin. "Hohoho!"

"She must be thinking something evil," Alphonsa whispered to Rosé.

* * *

The bells were to be rung again, it now being dusk.

"You know, there is a ruckus downstairs," the man supposed to doing the task said, one hand on the rope.

"Just do your job!" the man's boss said. "Oh, wait a minute, look!"

They both looked at up the inside of the bell tower. The bell was gone.

"Where did the bell go?" one of the men said.

Neither noticed an animated suit of armour sneaking away to another part of the open roof, the bell heavy on her back.

Alphonsa placed the stolen bell down next to the small device she had constructed using a radio, a stool and some wires.

"You know, I still can't understand what you said earlier," Rosé stated.

"As you heard before, alchemy consists of Equivalent Exchange," Alphonsa answered. "If we want to achieve something, we must pay a cost. Nee-san may be called a 'Genius' and a 'Prodigy', but she paid the cost though her effort."

"But surely, because you paid that price, your mother must have being–"

"She wasn't even human. Nee-san's theory should have been perfect, and it wasn't that which wrong…it was us." Alphonsa remembered the blood-soaked scene.

The young woman gasped.

"Since then we have quit using the idea of using Human Transmutation. No one can be brought back to life. Now Nee-san's goal is to regain my body, so that I can be human again. And my goal is bring back Nee-san's arm and leg."

Alphonsa drew a Transmutation Circle under the bell and, with a quick transmutation; it was connected to the rest of the device via wires.

"Rosé, please do not make the same mistaken we did."

The woman, the wind blowing her hair, dress and bangles, was still hopeful that Cornello would bring her boyfriend back. She did not voice this though, and simply watched as Alphonsa switched on the device she had made and held the bell up in the air.

Meanwhile, back inside the church, Father Cornello was still on the warpath. As he run past his broadcast room, he felt something was not right and looked in. There, relaxing on the table, looking bored - was the older heretic.

"You brat!" Cornello shouted. "I'm not letting you get away this time!"

"You haven't given up yet?" Edwina asked. "Don't you think that your lied will get out soon?"

"Silence! My underlings are still in the church! There is no way you are going to break my control and get what you know to my stupid followers!" Cornello yelled.

"I feel sorry for your followers."

"They are nothing but pawns in my plans for war! Pawns don't need pity! And they would die happy, believing they had done it for God! The difference between alchemy and my miracles is that I can use my powers to mass produce followers and replenish my unlimited supply of pawns! Do you really think you can stop my plans so easily!"

"Heh," Edwina breathed. "Heh heh….BWHAHAHAHA!"

"What's so funny?" the priest shouted.

"Becau-haha-because you are a really _bad _third rate," Edwina said.

"You're still saying that?"

The teenager lifted something up. "What's this?"

Cornello's eyes widened. "YOU DIDN'T– _WHY YOU LITTLE BIIIIIITCH!_"

Edwina was holding the switch to his radio, and it was on the "on" position. There was also a microphone on the floor at his feet he had failed to notice. His fraudulence was out.

Rosé, who was standing right next to the device, the bell of which Alphonsa was holding towards the rest of the town at the edge of the roof, had to cover her ears to defend them against Cornello's scream of rage.

The residents of the desert-side town were in shock. They had completely forgotten about their jobs or their meals are they learned that their great religious leader was a fraud.

"W-when did you push that switch?" Cornello screamed at the girl, his voice echoing all over Reole.

"Just after you came in," she replied.

"H-how can this be?" Cornello completely lost it. He pointed his gun at Edwina. "I'LL KILL YOU, YOU LITTLE BITCH!"

"Too late!" Edwina cried, jumping to her feet.

Before the Founder could even fire one bullet, Edwina had transmuted her automail-blade and sliced the barrel off the gun.

"Told you didn't I?" Edwina said with a smirk. "You and I are on completely different levels."

"I won't…" Cornello hissed. "I won't give up!"

He started a transmutation to fix the gun. "As long as I have this stone, I am able perform miracles as much as I- AAAAAARRRH!"

The red light that had ignited on his ring shot up the man's arm. The light faded, showing that the priest's arm had been horribly disfigured, wires and metal and goodness knows what sticking out of it, the skin gone.

Cornello fell to his knees. "My arm! My arm! Why? How? It hurts!"

Infuriated by the man behaviour, she grabbed him by the collar, leaned into his face and shouted, "SHUT UP! This is only a rebound! Don't go mad over just one arm!"

"What…?" a startled Cornello said.

"Show me the stone!" the girl ordered.

The priest did as he was told. However, as he held out his hand the stone broke off his ring, cracked, and faded into dust. Edwina's mouth fell open. She knew the stone was an unbreakable material. She shook the man by his collar.

"What's going on?" she demanded. "The stone is supposed to be perfect. Why did it break?"

"I-I don't know!" Cornello squeaked, now afraid. "I did not know about this. P-please save me…"

"It was a fake…" Edwina said.

"If the stone's can I can't do anything!" Cornello said. "Please save me…"

Edwina threw the man backwards and stood up, her hands balled into fists. "I came all the way here…thought I could restore myself and Al…and it was a fake…"

She fell to her knees, her back turned to Cornello. "Noooooo! This can't be!"

_She's wide open to attack…_ the priest thought. He noticed the one of the poles sticking out of his arm was sharp. _If this is how it's going to be…then I'll take the brat with me._

"Hey, old man…" the teenager hissed before he could move.

"Y-Yes?" said Cornello.

"You tricked the people of this town…" she placed her hand on the ground. "And you also made my sister and I waste all this time, and in the end all I get is a fake?" she activated her alchemy, and the lightening hit the ground creating a large stone fist, which smashed into Cornello, knocking him through the church wall and into the main hall.

Letting out another scream of rage, Edwina placed her hand on the Leto statue causing it to grow in size until the priest was like an insect compared to it. "Eat God Hammer!"

Cornello screamed like a little girl and fell backwards, the fist missing him, but leaving him still feeling defeated.

* * *

"So it was a fake…?" Alphonsa said after Edwina had finished explaining what happened in the church. The two sisters were sitting on the steps leading to the church, which was in ruins.

"And I really thought I could finally restore you…" Edwina said sadly.

"Well, I'm more worried about you, Nee-san. Automail has its fair share of problems," the younger girl responded.

"Let's look somewhere else."

They stood and were just about to leave, when they heard a certain woman speak behind them.

"No…this can't be real…" Rosé said sadly. She was hopeless, not even having the strength to stand up, instead on her knees. "Cornello-sama said he would bring back the one person I had left…I'm all alone now…"

"Rosé, just give it up," Edwina told her.

"But why…why does it have to be like this?" the woman asked, then her head shot up and she screamed, "What I am supposed to do now? How am I supposed to live now?" Her voice wavered as she started to cry. "Please! Tell me! Tell me what to do!"

The older female alchemist turned away from her.

"Think about it out your own," she said bluntly. "Stand up and walk. After all, you have two perfect legs to walk on."

Edwina left. Alphonsa told a last moment to look at Rosé, who had turned her eyes to the sky, before following.

Little did either of the three know of the chaos happening at the Leto church. The townspeople had gathered at the doors in an angry mob, wielding flame torches and work tools, demanding and shouting.

"Bring out the Founder!" one man shouted.

"What is he doing?" demanded a woman.

"Why did you trick us!"

"Open this door!"

"Explain yourselves!"

Inside, the priests and other church employees were trying their best to keep the doors shut, sliding a huge bolt across them.

The founder himself was still in the main hall thinking over what to do, his arm still horribly mutated. "Damn that blonde brat. They know my plans now…"

"Goodness, we managed to get this far and now its all gone," said a seductive woman's voice. "What a troublesome founder. Its being along time since we last came here, what is all the fuss?"

Cornello turned around. Sitting in the centre of the room were two people. The smaller, fat one was a man. He had a round head and body, tiny, eyes that had no pupils and a tomato-shaped nose, and was dressed in a sleeveless lack top, black trousers and black shoes, was finishing off the remains of the dead chimera.

The second person was a beautiful, seductive, curvaceous woman. She had long (roughly mid-back) wavy black tresses and sharp facial features. She was wearing a dress revealing her large cleavage, along with tights, long gloves and high-heeled shoes.

Both had strange vein-like things running down their arms.

"Y-you!" Cornello cried at the woman. "What is the meaning of this? The Philosopher's Stone you gave me broke. The stone cannot break! You expected me to use a defective object?"

"As if we would have given the real one to you," the woman said.

"You told me if I used this stone, I could take over this country!"

"Oh I said something like that? It was nice to cause a little mayhem around here. Did you really think a third rate like you could become a king?"

Cornello had nothing to say.

"Hey, Lust," said the fat man. "That old man, can I eat him?"

"No, no, Gluttony," Lust replied. "He will give you tummy ache if you eat a third rare - no - fourth rate Founder like him."

Cornello lost it once again. "AAAARRRHHH! I AM SO SICK OF BEING MADE A FOOL O–"

Lust had had enough. "We no longer need you."

She extended one of her blade-like fingers, ones that could cut through almost anything, and pierced the man's skull with the speed and power of a bullet. He was dead before he even hit the ground.

"We come so far, but now we are going to have to start from scratch," Lust said. "Father won't be pleased. What to do next?"

Gluttony was now inspecting Cornello's corpse.

"Hey, I said you can't eat him," Lust reminded her partner.

Gluttony ignored her and opened his mouth as wide as he could to consume.

* * *

"No one's on board," Edwina remarked, looking around the empty train. "I heard rumours, but I didn't think it would be _this _bad." she looked at the map in her hands. "And there is nothing interesting to look at."

"This is where your next mission is?" Alphonsa said.

"Yes, 'the town at the end of the east', the Youswell Coal Mine."

* * *

**Author's Notes: Yeah! First chapter of the SMFA based on the Manga! And its is LONG. Hope you enjoy it readers.**

**BTW, you know how I said that "Alphonsa" meant 'eager for war'? Well, I actually found it has more meaning than I first thought. It is also the name of a woman, now a kindly saint. Like Al, she lost her mother at a young age and was raised by her aunt (I know Pinako is not related but the Elrics still regarded her as "aunt").**

**Leave a review if you want.**

**Thank you ^_^**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_**Childhood**_

Edwina and Alphonsa were back on the train after visiting the town of Youswell. Before they had arrived, Edwina had alchemically repaired her clothes, as they outfit she wore was her favourite one.

The visit to the mining town had been more productive than either of them had expected. Edwina had being cast out the moment she had revealed she was a State Alchemist who was there investigate the mines, but in the end, she had freed the town from their tyrannical overseer, who paid the mineworkers far too little and taxed them far too much. They have even made some good friends, such as the head miner Halling and his young son Khayal.

"So, we're done all the missions for now?" Alphonsa suddenly asked.

"Yes," Edwina replied. "We need to back and report what we've found, even though it's nothing sufficient to our search."

As the train ride went on, Edwina gradually became sleepier and sleepier and started to nod off, but she refused to let her eyes close. Alphonsa noticed this.

"Nee-san," she said. "Maybe you should take a nap, you haven't slept much lately."

"What? No, no, I'm fine," Edwina said. Right on cue, as when anyone was denying tiredness, she yawned.

"Nee-san!" Alphonsa said. She hated that her older sister sometimes pushed herself to the brink of exhaustion.

"I'm OK…" she yawned again. "I'm really….not…tired…"

Her eyes finally sank shut and she fell into a deep sleep. Alphonsa sighed.

It was not long before Edwina began to dream of her younger days…

* * *

The rural village of Rizenbul lay in the southern-eastern area of the country of Amestris, on one side of the Rain River.

This little town always had the best of summers, and the summer of 1904 was no exception. All the children were out playing in the heat or cooling off in the water - all expect two.

"Edwina? Alphonsa? Where are you?" Trisha Elric called as she searched her house for her two allusive five and four-year old daughters.

Trisha was twenty-six, and had sparkling green eyes, and long brown hair swept over one shoulder, with a bobble tied into it near the tips. She was wearing her usual attire: a short-sleeved, light purple dress and a white apron.

"Well, really," she said, finally finding her children. "You girls messed up your father's study again. Do you like reading that much?"

The books of the study were littered on the floor. Amid the books were Edwina and her one-year-younger little sister Alphonsa.

Edwina had light golden eyes, and light golden blonde hair of the same shade, with a fringe reaching her chin, which framed her face. Her face resembled that of her father's. She had her hair pulled back in a low ponytail.

Edwina was dressed in a light blue shirt, tan shorts and slip-on sandals. Trisha had tried to get her to wear dresses like every other girl of her age, but being a bit of a tomboy, the child had refused, so Trisha had to buy her clothes normally for boys.

Alphonsa also had golden eyes and hair, the same shade as her older sister, with a fringe swept to the right. Facially, Alphonsa resembled her mother, who had a more broad face. Alphonsa had her hair in high bunches, one on each side of her head.

In addition to this, she could not be more opposite, in terms of personally, to her sister. She was a feminine girl, and loved wearing dresses, and today she was wearing a red, sleeveless number with a plain white t-shirt underneath and matching sandals.

"Oh, Edwina! Don't draw on the floor!" Trisha cried when she saw the strange symbol and the chalk in the girl's hand. "Your father is going to give you such a scolding when he comes back."

"Mum, we're not messing around," Edwina piped up. "Look."

The two children placed their hands on the symbol on the ground, causing blue lightening to admit from it. From out of that light, the wooden floorboards as its source material, rose a little duck.

Trisha placed her basket of food on the floor and knelt down to take a closer look at the object. "That was alchemy, wasn't it? Did your father teach you?"

"How could he teach us if he's not here?" Edwina asked rhetorically.

"We learnt from the books," Alphonsa said, pointing.

"You both could understand these difficult texts?" Trisha asked.

"A little bit," the girls replied in unison.

"Well, if I see any other alchemists, I am going to make a mockery of their efforts."

"Wait, did we do something wrong?" Edwina asked.

"No, no, nothing at all," Trisha said with a kind smile, then reached out and stroked her daughters' hair. "You truly are you father's daughters. Mum is proud of you."

Edwina grinned while Alphonsa beamed sweetly.

_To make our mother praise Al and me. That simple wish started our interest in alchemy. Our father left on a journey when I was two and Al was one, so I don't really remember him. All I remember is Mother._

Edwina eyed her bottle of milk as if it were poison. Alphonsa, on the other hand, was glugging away.

"Edwina, you must drink your milk or you'll never grow," Trisha said.

"No! I hate milk! It's disgusting!" Edwina snapped stubbornly, her arms folded and her mouth pouting.

"No wonder Alphonsa is getting to be taller than you."

"I AM NOT SMALL!"

_Mother…_

Trisha was doing her morning sweeping, and just happened to past by her husband's study - to find her children buried in an avalanche of books. Edwina was upside down, her legs, the only things visible, kicking desperately, while Alphonsa was buried up to her waist, trying to pull herself free.

Trisha sighed. _Those girls of mine._

That was the last time she trusted the girls to tidy up the study on their own.

…_Mother…_

"Mum, this a Transmutation Circle," Edwina explained as she drew the array.

"It's seems so complicated," the woman commented.

"It's not that hard once you're used to it," Alphonsa said.

…_Mother…_

Mummy, look! Look!" Alphonsa squeaked as she and her sister held up the small paper crane they had just transmuted.

"Oh, well done, girls," Trisha praised, a smile on her face.

…_Mother…_

Alphonsa skipped along the road ahead of her big sister, a bunch of flowers in her hand, and her pigtails bouncing merrily. "Hurry up, Nee-chan!"

Edwina walked along after Alphonsa, her hands by her sides. There was no way _she_ wasgoing to skip along the road. She could not believe that her little sister had convinced her to do something so girly. What could have been more of a stereotype of a girl than picking flowers and skipping?

_Still… _she thought to herself as she looked down at the flowers in her hand. _If it makes Mum smile…maybe it's not THAT bad._

_We loved our mother, more than anything else in the world. However...on the same year that we become obsessed with alchemy…_

"Mum, we're back!" Edwina called as she opened the front door. Trisha had sent her and Alphonsa to market to pick up some food. She expected to see her mother smile and thank them for doing a good job - but instead, they found her lying motionless on the floor.

"Mum!" Edwina cried, as the two sisters rushed over to the woman.

"Mummy, wake up!" Alphonsa cried.

_She had become sick from a plague that had swept through the town, and died._

Many people had gathered for the funeral of Trisha Elric.

"It must have been the plague," one man said.

"Yes. It's too tragic," said a woman. "Her children are orphans now…"

"Has anyone managed to contact her husband?" another man asked.

Edwina and Alphonsa cried and cried as the coffin was lowered into the ground.

Every day after the funeral, the two Elric children retuned to the grave, simply looking at it and the flowers on it.

The grave was simple, saying the words:

**Trisha Elric**

**1878 - 1904**

One evening, the two stayed at the place for a particularly long time.

"Nee-chan," Alphonsa eventually broke the silence. "I'm hungry."

The older girl did not reply.

"I'm cold."

Still no answer.

"I'm hungry."

After a few minutes more, Edwina finally spoke. "Al, the alchemy books spoke of a creature called a 'Homunculus', a creature created through alchemy. Both homunculi and humans are composed of the mind, body and flesh."

"I read that too," Alphonsa said. "Why are you mentioning it now?"

"Maybe, we could find a way to revive Mum. It will be our secret," Edwina said.

"But the books said that it was forbidden to create humans. If only dad was here…"

"Don't talk about him!" Edwina snapped. "He's not our father! He left us and made mum cry. I also bet him leaving was what made mum sick. He didn't even come back for Mum's funeral!"

Alphonsa simply looked back at the grave, wishing she had not mentioned the man they knew so little about.

"So, you two came here again?" said a boy's voice.

Edwina looked behind her to see her and Alphonsa's best friend Winter Rockbell. The wind blew his short, light blonde hair and his cerulean eyes were dark in the in orange evening light, as he stood at the entrance to the graveyard.

"So what if we're here, Winter?" Edwina snapped.

"Granny said if you cry while thinking of someone dead, then they will be as sad in the next world," the boy explained.

Edwina stood. "I'm not crying! Moreover, why are _you_ saying that? Even though you're a boy, you're a cry-baby! You cry because you're lonely as your parents are always on the road all the time! And you cried at our Mum's funeral! At least your parents are still alive!"

"I'm not crying!" Winter snapped, echoing the older girl.

"Oh really?" the girl said.

"I think it's OK for Winter to cry," Alphonsa quietly said. No one heard her.

"If I knew this was how you would react, Ed, then I wouldn't have worried about you! If you come home after me, you're missing dinner!"

With that, the boy left for his house.

"Hey, what does that mean?" Edwina cried. "Wait up!" She ran after the boy.

"Wait for me, Nee-chan!" Alphonsa called, joining in with the chase.

Even though they still lived in their own house, Pinako had become the Elrics unofficial guardian, washing their clothes, providing them with food, and taking care of other little things at her own home.

After a nice meal of stew, the two young girls returned to their own home to get a good night's sleep before beginning their plans of resurrection.

_We whole-heatedly believed that we could bring our mother back. We just wanted to see her smile one more time._

"Edwina! Alphonsa!" the teacher shouted at the two girls at the back of her class. "In case you haven't noticed, we are in the middle of a mathematics lesson right now!"

The two sisters looked up from their alchemy books.

"Maths is boring!" Edwina said.

The teacher started to throw chalk at the older Elric sister.

Later on at the end of the school day, as the three children walked home, Winter said, "You were reading those books again. You need to pay attention in class."

"Says the guy who fell asleep in history," Edwina replied.

"That was an accident! Anyway, why _are_ you reading those books?"

"That's a secret," Alphonsa told him, who was walking next to him while Edwina was out in front, with a secretive smile on her face.

"It's got nothing to do with you, Winter," Edwina stated.

"How mean, keeping a secret from me," the male blonde said. "Girls always have secrets."

The younger girl giggled, then said, "Sorry."

They reached the part of the path that spilt in two directions, one leading across a bridge to the Elric household, and the other leading the Rockbell household.

"Oh yeah, we're having cheese with dinner tonight!" Winter called to the girls.

"Yay! I like cheese!" Alphonsa called, then waved. "See you later then!"

"The invention of cheese was the greatest," Edwina said. "Who knew milk could be made into something so delicious!"

"Huh?" said the younger girl.

"I mean, think about it. Scientists _had _to have invented it. For example, you can add milk to soups to make them more creamy too. Scientists have that kind of imagination."

That night, just like every night, the two sisters studied alchemy, lying under blankets in the study, a lamp lighting up their reading area.

"The composition of the body is still missing something," the older Elric said as she looked down at the page. "Why is transmutating life forbidden?"

"Because no-one succeeded?" the younger girl suggested. "Or because it let to the destruction of an entire country in one night?"

"The Eastern Desert Philosopher Story?" Edwina said.

"There are lots of stories. If a complete human was made, the country would revolt."

"They're only rumours!"

"Well then how about this," Alphonsa tried to make her voice sound creepy. "While the Human Transmutation is happening, a curious fly goes into the light, and is pulled into the transmutation; the result would be some kind of part-human-part-fly creature."

"Well yeah," Edwina said. "But I think adults forbade it because they 0nn"If mum could be revived and live with us again, I'm sure she'd be happy. I'm sure all three of us would be happy."

_After some convincing, Al agreed with my idea to bring back Mum. From then on, we focused our studies on Human Transmutation._

The pile of books next to the blonde girls was still huge, even though they were half-way through it.

"Nee-chan, let's go bed," Alphonsa said.

"Just one more hour, Al, OK?" Edwina replied.

"Ok…"

_We found a sensei, and under them, polished up our alchemic skills. It took years, but the day when we were ready finally came. That fateful day in 1910, which changed our lives forever…_

Edwina finished off her diagram by adding the final symbol. "Done."

Today, the older Elric was dressed in a black t-shirt, tan shorts and brown boots.

She went outside, where Alphonsa was playing alone, as Winter had left for his home two hours ago. The younger Elric was dressed a light blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, with a navy-blue pinafore, white socks and brown, laced shoes.

"Al, it's ready," she said.

"Ok, Nee-san," the younger girl said.

The Elrics proceeded to the basement, and after spending a good few hours constructing the huge, complex Human Transmutation Circle as exactly as possible to Edwina's diagram, they began ticking off the ingredients as they carried it to the circle. As they did so, ravens cawed outside in the in the red light that came just before nightfall.

"Thirty-five litres of water. Twenty grams of carbon. Four litres of ammonia. One-point-five kilograms of lime. Eight-hundred grams of phosphorous. Two-hundred and fifty grams of salt," Edwina checked.

"One-hundred grams of saltpetre. Eighty grams of sulphur. Seven-point-five grams of fluorine. Five grams of iron. Three gram of silicon, and traces of fifteen other elements," Alphonsa finished.

"All the ingredients to create an average adult human body," Edwina said.

"What will we do when mum comes back?" Alphonsa asked.

Edwina laughed. "Isn't it obvious? Don't tell Sensei!"

The older girl walked over to one of the desk in the basement, picked up a knife and carried it back over to the circle.

"Nee-san, what are you– ah!" Spotting the knife, the younger girl let out a squeak and backed up against the wall. "W-what are you going to do with that?"

Edwina used the knife to put a small cut on her finger and watched the blood bubble up. She then approached her sister, who pushed herself right into the corner of the room.

"Al, it's OK," the older blonde girl said as she walked.

"B-but you hurt yourself!"

"Here…"

Edwina gently took her little sister by the hand and let her back to the Transmutation Circle, and let some of the blood in the wound on her finger fall onto it. "See? Since we are directly related to mum, our blood will serve as her soul's information."

After a few minutes of good thought, Alphonsa nodded, and allowed Edwina to cut her finger and put her blood on the circle. The children knelt down at the edge of the circle.

Edwina turned to Alphonsa. "Let's do this, Al."

The other girl nodded and they placed their hands on the circle. Immediately a blue light blazed from it. The two girls smiled.

_It's really working! _Edwina thought.

The gently blue light suddenly and violently changed to a threatening purple, and a wind whipped up from the edges of the circle.

"Huh?" the older blonde said, her smile fading.

"Nee-san, something is wrong," Alphonsa said, looking around, fear taking over her previous joy. Suddenly the younger blonde girl let out a scream as if in pain.

Thin, black, arm-like appendages with little hands on the end of them had risen from the Transmutation Circle and slithered through the air to Alphonsa and - in a most grotesque way - began to disincarnate her arm, the blood vessels and muscle visible a moment before it disappeared.

"Al!" Edwina cried, trying to move towards the screaming girl but found herself held back. She turned her head. The arm-like things were disintegrating her leg.

"Crap!" she cried. "It's a rebound!"

"NEE-SAN! NEE-SAAAAN!" Alphonsa screamed. "NEE-SAAAAAN! Nee…"

The arms had completely surrounded and attacked Alphonsa, and now only her head and one arm remained.

"AAAAALLL!" Edwina screamed. She was so close. She stretched out her hand; she could feel her little sister's fingertips. It was too late. Alphonsa was completely gone.

A bright flash blocked out all of Edwina's vision and the arms surrounded her too.

_I blacked out at that point and the next thing I knew was…_

Edwina opened her eyes. She was standing an endless expanse of white, the only object being two huge, complex, stone tablet doors behind her. It was eerily calm.

"What the– what was I just doing?" the girl asked herself, looking around. "Al? Are you here, Al?" Her voice echoed.

_"Hello, Alchemist," _said a voice that sounded like creepily like Edwina's own voice, but with another male mixed in.

Edwina's head spun around. "Who are you? Where are you?"

_"I'm right in front of you."_

Edwina looked back ahead of her. "Ah!"

Sitting in front of her was a figure. It was pure white, only visible in the vast white almost-nothingness because of its shadowy outline, which resembled a girl the same age as herself.

"Who are you?" she asked the being.

"_Thank you for asking," _the thing responded. _"I am the one you human's call 'The World'." _It used one of its hands to animate its speech. _"Also known as 'The Universe' or 'God' or 'One' or 'All' or 'Truth'. And…" _it pointed a finger at Edwina. _"I'm YOU!"_

The blonde gasped. Slowly the great, several-inch thick doors behind her began to open. A vertical eyeball appeared in the darkness. Edwina turned around to the face the eye.

_"Welcome…you ignorant fool…" _the being hissed.

The arms were back. Edwina tried to run but the appendages were too fast and quickly wrapped themselves around her. She struggled, kicked, and cried out, but they dragged her backwards, backwards into the doors.

_"Quiet down!" _the Truth commanded. _"Isn't this what you wanted?"_

Edwina stretched out her hand, screaming louder.

_"I will show you true knowledge."_

The doors slammed shut.

"What the hell is this?" Edwina cried. She was flying through what seemed be a black vortex, images of bones, people, unnameable things flying past her.

"Please stop!" Edwina screamed, surprised that she could still talk and breathe at the speed she was going. "My head feels like it's going to explode!"

Something swirled around her. "PLEASE STOP!"

The arms begin to fragment her again. "I'M GOING TO BE MUTILATED!"

A huge eye opened in front of the girl. "Stop!" A pure white, womanly figure appeared. "Mum?" She stretched out her hand to the woman. "_Mum!_"

The girl was completely disintegrated.

And suddenly she was back. Back in front of the Truth and in the eerie calmness as if nothing had happened, her hand still outstretched.

_"How was it?" _the Truth asked.

"I feel like…a colossal amount of information has being cramped into my head." She looked at the gate in front of her. "My head is sore, but I finally understand! This is true knowledge!" She began to walk. "Our Human Transmutation theory was not wrong…but it wasn't enough!" She slammed her hands onto the gate. "Please, just a little more! A little more information and it will be perfect!" She turned her head to the Truth. "I need to look at it just one more time! There was information regarding Human Transmutation! Please!"

_"I cannot do that," _the Truth said. _"This is all I can show for this Passage Fee."_

"'Passage Fee?'"

"_Yes," _the white being stood up and walked over to Edwina. As it did so, a flesh leg generated onto its white one. Edwina looked down. Her left leg was gone. Then she realised, why it resembled a girl. It really _was_ her. Each part of its body corresponded to her own.

The Truth placed a hand under the girl's chin and pushed its face right up close to hers. A grin appeared on its featureless face. _"Remember Equivalent Exchange, little alchemist girly."_

Suddenly, Edwina was back in her basement. Blood exploded from the stump that used to be the bottom half of her leg and she screamed. All the remained was the part above the knee and all she felt was pain. It was pain so intense and excoriating, it made her think death was better. However, she knew she could not do that. She crawled over to the Human Transmutation Circle, which after she had returned, stopped glowing.

"Al! Al!" she cried, looking around for her now missing sister. "ALPHONSA!" She rolled over onto her stomach. "This can't be happening…"

Clothes were all that remained of Alphonsa Elric.

"It took Al and my leg away! Someone, please help me! Mum! Mum! Please help…" Edwina cried.

She looked at the Transmutation Circle again, upon hearing a noise. She looked and saw a human-like figure. She had done it, her mother was back - then she saw the true thing she and her sister had created. Her eyes widened in shock and fear. It was a monster. It could have been descried as anything but the Elrics Sisters' dear mother.

Edwina backed up against the wall as the thing stretched out its hand, opened its mouth and screamed. It was such a horrible, inhuman scream, full of hopelessness and despair. The young girl clamped her hands on her ears, but she could not block out that terrible noise. It was in her inside her head. Inside her mind. Inside her very soul. Tears slipped from the girl's eyes as the noise went on and on.

"No…" she whimpered. "No…it can't be like this…"

Then, suddenly, just like that, the creature stopped screaming and seemed to gag. Blood pooled out of it, oozing across the Transmutation Circle, its arm fell, and it lay still and silent.

Fighting the excruciating pain and the urge to be sick, Edwina found a rag in the mess of the basement, and tied it around her leg-stump to pressurise it and stem the flow of blood.

"This isn't what I wanted!" she cried as she crawled over to a large gunmetal-coloured, two-metre tall suit of armour that was widen than the average human being. "Al, this is my fault. All my fault…."

The helmet of the armour had half-moon eyes, a proroguing chin, and a zigzag mouth. The top of the helmet also sported a ribbon of white hair that hung down to the small of the suit's back.

The body of the armour consisted of a removable breastplate with a protruding, triangular piece on the chest just below the throat guard. A high collar that extended out of the back and surrounded the rear and sides of the neck, with a large, brown, circular leather patch on either side of the abdomen.

Despite this, Edwina knocked the suit over, causing the helmet to come off. "Please, return her to me…" She reached out of her hands and drew a small octogram on the inside of the armour in her own blood. "Whether you have to take my other leg or both my arms…" she looked at her hands. "I'll even let you take my heart!" She clapped her hands together. "So please! _GIVE HER BACK! SHE'S MY ONE AND ONLY LITTLE SISTER!_"

Inside the Gate, the Truth gained a right arm of flesh. _"That fool is back for more…"_

_All I could do after that was lie there and hope…_

* * *

Edwina felt someone shaking her. "Nee-san! Nee-san! You're only dreaming! I'm right here! You're not going through that again, Nee-san!"

The teenager thrashed for a little longer before she opened her eyes. She had fallen out of her seat and onto the floor of the train. Alphonsa had her hands on her shoulders.

"Oh, Al…" still partly in the grip of the nightmare, she hugged the armour girl.

Alphonsa heaved her back into her seat while addressing the rest of the carriage, "S-so sorry about that everyone. Nee-san was just having a nightmare."

Edwina looked around. Everyone in the carriage was looking at her. She felt her face heat up slightly. A few people muttered between themselves upon hearing the younger Elric, and the two sisters heard one woman saying, "Oh, the poor girl."

Eventually, must to both girl's relief, but more so Edwina's, the other people retuned to their own business.

"Sorry about that, Al," Edwina said.

"No, It's not your fault," the younger female said.

"You know, I'm still a bit tired. I think, because my dream turned into a nightmare, I didn't really rest properly. Wake me up if I do as much as a mutter, Al."

"Ok, Nee-san, rest good this time. If you don't, you'll be even more snappy to the Colonel than usual."

"Thanks," Edwina said sarcastically, before closing her eyes again.

* * *

It had being a few days since the Elric Sisters had committed the most taboo act in alchemy. Two rather special visitors were entering the town. They were members of the Amestris State Military. The woman was called Roya Mustang and the man, Rizo Hawkeye.

The Amestris Military uniform was blue with a white trim. While most women wore a skirt, those who were involved with combat wore trousers. Roya Mustang was one such woman.

"Sorry about this," said the driver of the cart, Brigadier General Edison, who was stationed at Rizenbul, to the two people were sitting on the back. "They don't have cars in a country-side village like this."

"That's OK," Mustang replied. "It's being a pretty interesting ride anyway."

"So why are you looking for the Elrics, Lieutenant Colonel Mustang?" Edison asked.

The woman looked at the paper in her hands. "I heard that the Elric Sisters were seeking to become alchemists, so I'm here to recruit them."

"As State Alchemists?"

"Yes."

"That's impressive."

"But why would you, a Lieutenant Colonel, come all the way from the Eastern district to here?"

"It's my job to find and recruit talented alchemists."

"My, those kids are going to be surprised."

Mustang's eyes widened. "Kids?" She looked at her paper again. "'Edwina Elric, 31-years-old, Rizenbul Village' that's what it says here."

"No, no. Edwina is eleven. She also has a sister, who's a year younger."

The woman turned to her subordinate. "What is the meaning of this, Second Lieutenant?"

"According to logic, this would a case of _incorrect information_, Ma'am," Rizo stated simply.

Neither of them talked until they reached the Elric Household.

"Second Lieutenant, please wait out here," The female soldier instructed, after knocking and getting no response.

The Lieutenant Colonel made her way through the empty house, which had accumulated rather a lot of dust. She found some pictures on and above the mantelpiece. One was of two golden-blonde haired girls standing with a woman, who had an arm around each one as she smiled. She walked down a corridor and found a study full of alchemy books.

_For children, these two seem to study well, _she thought.

She made her way down to the basement. Something seemed odd and she opened the door a little more to investigate. Her eyes widened at the site.

There on the floor was a Transmutation Circle she knew was for Human Transmutation.

The woman ran back outside and over to where the two other officers were standing.

"Where are the Elric Sisters?!" she demanded.

"They're not in there?" the Brigadier General responded. "Well then they should be at the Rockbell Home." He indicated the direction, to which the raven-haired woman took off to at a run, the blonde man following. As they approached the home, a dog with an automail front left leg started to bark, sensing something was up.

Mustang knocked on the door. After a few minutes, a tiny, old woman with tiny spectacles on the end of her nose answered the door, only to be knocked aside by the Lieutenant Colonel.

"Sorry about the intrusion, Mrs. Rockbell," she apologised as she looked around the room while the Hawkeye remained silent.

"Den, be quiet," Pinako told the black-and-white dog. "What does a soldier like you want from here?"

Mustang did not reply.

"Aunty, what's going on?" a slightly echoing female voice said.

Mustang turned around again to see a large suit of armour standing in a dark corner. As she came into the light, it revealed that she was holding the handles of a wheelchair. And in that wheelchair, her left trouser leg and right jumper sleeve empty - was the older Elric child. The blonde girl was completely silent, looking very out of it.

The Lieutenant Colonel was enraged. She grabbed the girl by the front of her white jumper and wrenched her out of the chair, close to her face. "We went to your house, girl!" She shook the blonde child, who did not respond, instead looking regretfully and shamefully downward. "What the _hell _was that thing in the basement?! What did you create?!"

A metal-and-leather hand gently grasped the woman's arm.

"Please forgive us," the hollow voice was gentle. The dark-haired woman had been expecting the armour girl to be angry as she was partially abusing her sister.

"I'm really sorry," Alphonsa went on. "Please forgive us. I'm really sorry." If she had tear ducts, she would be crying at that moment.

Mustang gently placed Edwina back in her wheelchair and said, "I apologise. I should not have reacted like that."

Alphonsa moved Edwina to a table, along with Pinako and the Lieutenant Colonel. Hawkeye settled himself in another room, while Edison sat outside on the wooden steps leading to the Rockbell home.

"If you become a State Alchemist, you will have many privileges. Funding for research, access to secret documents, the country's research data and technology will all be at your disposal," Mustang explained. "However, you _must_ obey the Military."

"Could we use this to find a way to restore ourselves?" the armour girl asked.

"Yes, I'm sure you could," The female soldier replied.

None of the four noticed Winter listening in. He was in a side room along with the younger male soldier, a sad look on his face. The military was no friend of his.

"Are you sure these children are skilled enough to become State Alchemists?" the old woman asked.

"The Human Transmutation, the fact that they survived it, and the Soul-Binding Transmutation this girl did on her sister to bind her to this armour is proof enough," Mustang replied.

"Lieutenant Colonel Mustang, after Edwina, unconscious, drenched in her own blood, and missing an arm and leg, was brought here by Alphonsa…" Pinako removed her smoking pipe from her mouth before continuing. "I went to see what happened and saw that…that_ thing._ I couldn't stand the sight of it, so I buried it in the back garden." The old woman raised her head, anger in her eyes. "That _thing_ wasn't even human! Is creating such a monstrosity what alchemy is? You want to take these children to hell again?"

In the other room, Winter had closed the door and had gone into the kitchen, leaving the older male alone. He soon returned.

"Here you go," the light-blonde haired boy said as he placed a tray with two cups of tea on the floor. He passed one cup to the man, who thanked him, took one for himself and sat on the couch next to him, a melancholy expression still on his face.

After a few quiet moments sipped tea, Winter spoke. "Um…Mr. Second Lieutenant, can I ask you something?"

"Of course. But please, my name is Rizo Hawkeye. Call me Rizo," the soldier said, then extended a hand, "Pleased to meet you."

The 11-year-old did not take the offered hand, instead looking at the gun the man carried.

"Have you ever shot someone?" he suddenly asked.

The man's eyes widened and he paused before saying, "yes I have. Many times."

"I _hate_ the Military. It's thanks to _them _that, two years ago, my mum and dad were called to the battlefield and subsequently killed."

Hawkeye looked away. "Oh…I'm sorry for your loss."

"Now, on top of that, Ed has lost her arm and leg, and Al has lost her entire body. And now, that Mustang woman is trying to take Ed and Al away from me!" Winter wailed, tearing up. "Please don't let them be taken, Mr. Rizo! I don't want them to be taken away. Especially Al, since she's younger than Ed and me and doesn't like violence."

The soldier placed a hand on the child's shoulder. "Please don't cry. We men are meant to be tough. The Military will not take your friends away. It will be their choice whether they want to go or not."

Winter sniffed, wiped his tears on his sleeve and replied, "Ok." He sighed. "Ed was right. I really _am_ a cry-baby."

"You know…" the man began, giving a small smile. "I don't really like the military either, as I am forced to take lives at times."

"Then why are you in it?"

The older blonde took another sip of tea, before solemnly stating, "There is someone I must protect."

In the other room, Pinako had finished shouting at the female soldier.

"Mrs. Rockbell, I am not going to force these girls do anything." Mustang said, trying to keep calm. "I am only stating the possibly."

"For the person I must protect, I will pull the trigger of my own accord," Hawkeye continued.

Mustang looked at the girl in the wheelchair. "Edwina Elric, you have a choice: live a life of hopelessness with a suit of armour for a sister…or join the Military and perhaps find a possibly to restore her and yourself."

"I will continue to protect this person until she has reached her goal," the male soldier stated.

"It's your choice," the female solider told the young girl.

"If those two children have a strong will, they will decide for themselves which path to go down," Hawkeye went on. "Even if that path is a fast-flowing river."

The raven-haired female stood, saying, "That will be all for today." She turned to the armour girl. "If you two wish to see me, come to the headquarters in East City." she held about two letters. "This should be helpful.

"Thank you," Alphonsa said.

The woman opened the room in which her subordinate and Winter sat.

"We're leaving now, Second Lieutenant," she said before going to the door.

Both the man and the boy stood up.

"Thank you for the tea," the male soldier said. "Goodbye, young sir. Try to keep those tears inside."

"Um…" the blonde boy said, trying to smile in a friendly way while gingerly stretching out his hand. "My name is Winter Rockbell. Please call me Winter."

"What a nice name for a handsome young lad like yourself," the man replied, taking a hold of the boy's hand and shaking it. "I hope we meet again some day, Winter."

With that, the man walked out to join his superior officer.

"Are those children going to come?" he asked her.

"Yes," the dark haired woman replied.

"You sound confident. That Edwina looked like she wouldn't be recovering any time soon."

"Really? Because I saw burning determination in those golden eyes."

_After that day, I decided to get surgery to get automail to replace my right arm and left leg. Aunty said it would take three years, but I wanted to do in just one. Aunty said I would be coughing up blood, but I was determined to return Al to normal as soon as possible. And to do that I needed two arms and two legs to stand on._

Edwina bit her lip to stifle another scream as another nerve was attached to the automail leg.

"I'm sorry that this hurts so much, Ed," Winter apologised as he assisted his grandmother. "In order for automail to work, each nerve must be individually attached."

"You're doing quite well, Ed," Pinako said. "Even an adult would cry out at this pain."

"My pain…" Edwina looked at the door to the operating theatre. "My pain is nothing compared to hers."

_With the body she had, my little sister could not and need not eat, sleep, feel pain or temperature. She missed sleep most of all. She had to spend every night all alone._

Winter gently stroked Edwina's hair. She had passed out during surgery and had a high fever. He constantly worried she was pushing herself to much.

_I was in near constant pain, but I was undeterred._

Winter caught his friend as she staggered. Alphonsa worriedly watched.

"Ed, you have trying for a while now," the boy said. "Please rest."

"No, I have to walk today," the girl replied, then turned to her sister. "Al, please endure that body for a little longer. I _will _get your original body back."

_And in one year's time, just as I had said, I was ready._

Twelve-year-old Edwina, her now waist-length hair in its now usual low plait, and wearing a white t-shirt, black trousers but barefoot, walked outside and over to her sister, her automail glinting in the sunlight.

Pinako had said it was the best piece of automail she and Winter had ever built.

"Are you ready, Al?" Edwina asked.

"Of course. I'm not going to lose to automail!" Alphonsa said, before running to take the first strike.

Edwina back flipped out of the way, then swung automail arm, intending to hit Alphonsa's head, but it was blocked. After a few hits and misses, both girls went for a hit, and both blocked it, causing a large dust cloud and loud clanging noise.

"Cool!" she said. "This body is perfect! I'm going to try and do alchemy with this thing."

"You haven't done it since transmuting my soul have you?"

"Nope."

Taking a deep breath, Edwina raised her hands and clapped them together. Blue alchemic lightening blazed out of the girl's hands and the top part of the forearm of the automail arm changed shape, morphing in a blade that extended past the hand of the metal arm.

"Nice!" Edwina said, looking at the blade.

"Wow…" Alphonsa said. "Nee-san, you can do what Sensei can!"

"Can't you do it, Al? Didn't you see that 'Truth' thing?"

"What 'Truth' thing?"

"Oh you didn't then. Forget what I–"

"HEY!" shouted the only president male voice.

The two girls turned to see a furious Winter standing on the porch.

"YOU CHANGED MY AUTOMAIL INTO A NEW SHAPE!" he hollered. "CHANGE IT BACK RIGHT NOW!"

"Stop acting like such a machine Otaku!" the blonde girl retorted. "The only reason a girl would get a boyfriend with an attitude like yours so that they have someone to do jobs for them!"

"Well I don't care!" the boy gestured to himself. "Until you two get your original bodies back, I'll be supporting you! And if you don't change the automail back, I'll serve spaghetti for dinner!"

That made Edwina changed her arm back _fast_. She hated spaghetti almost as much as she hated milk, as to her they were like slivery worms.

"Ah, the spring time of life," Alphonsa whispered to herself.

_A few days later, we decided we would become State Alchemists. However, it turned out Alphonsa could not take the test, due to her "condition", so I had to take it alone._

The Elric Sisters stood outside the Eastern Headquarters, having navigated there using the map Lieutenant Colonel Mustang had left in the envelope she had given Alphonsa. Winter had practically begged them not to go, but they were not so easily swayed.

Edwina was wearing a black tank top covered with a black jacket with a white trim that zipped up. The jacket was tucked into a pair of tight-fitting, leather jeans held up by a thick, brown, leather belt. On her feet, the girl wore black, leather boots with flat red soles that went half way to her knees and had a zip running from halfway to the top of the boots, and white gloves on her hands.

Over this, the girl wore a red, hooded coat whose tail came down to her upper calves and had a black flamel emblazoned on the back.

Mustang with Hawkeye, as usual, loyally at her side, walked out of the building to greet the girls.

"Hey, Lieutenant Colonel," the blonde said.

"I was promoted to 'Colonel' a few days ago, and Hawkeye was promoted to First Lieutenant," the woman said. "So you are really for this?"

"Woof! Woof!" Edwina said. "Want me to wag my tail too?"

"Good," the Colonel said with a nod. "Then we shall go to Central City."

After arriving at Central, Mustang led the older Elric to the courtyard where the examination was to take place, while Alphonsa remained behind with the First Lieutenant, who could not accompany them as he was not of a high enough rank. Other soldiers were standing on the balconies of the army headquarters, watching.

"It's rare you come to watch this in person, Mustang," commented one male soldier. Mustang was the only female officer present.

"Well, this 12-year-old girl here," she gestured to Edwina, "Is the next candidate for State Alchemist Exam."

"What? A 12-year-old? What's more a 12-year-old _girl?_" the light-haired soldier laughed. "This is just hilarious! I'd think a 12-year-old _boy _would have the smallest chance, but a _girl_?" He laughed again.

"In case you have forgotten, _I'm _a woman," The Colonel said in a fierce tone.

"Yeah, but you were like twenty!"

All went silent as the doors of the room opened again and in walked a tall, toned man with black hair and an eye-patch covering his left eye. Every officer in the room saluted in respect, the Colonel moving away from Edwina to give her space as she did so.

"Hmmm, you have an arm of steel, Miss?" Bradley said to the Elric girl, startling her. He had a deep, solemn voice. "How did you get it?"

"I…"

_Think, damn it! _The young alchemist's mind screamed. "I…I lost my arm in the uprising in the Eastern Area."

"Ah…tragic. We burned our hands in Ishval too."

"Who is this man?" Edwina whispered to the Light-haired solider.

"You don't know?" he hissed back. "He's Führer King Bradley, the highest ranking officer in the army and head of this country!"

The young alchemist felt nervousness creeping into her emotions.

"Do you have something to draw a Transmutation Circle with?" the male soldier asked her.

"I don't need anything to draw one."

With that, Edwina clapped her hands together and placed them on the ground.

Everyone expect Mustang and Bradley gasped.

_Impressive, she can transmute without a Circle, _the Führer thought. _But that means— __Oooh, this is good. She could be more useful than she knows…_

Using the ground, Edwina transmuted a large spear almost as tall as her, seized it, swung it, and charged - straight towards King Bradley.

She expected the man to move or try to defend himself with the sword he carried in a sheath, but he did not even blink as she pointed the sharp blade of the spear at his throat. Every solider in the area who had a gun drew it and pointed at the golden-eyed alchemist. The several soldiers that were on the ground moved closer to the girl, their guns almost pressed against her head.

"Lower your weapons please, gentlemen," Bradley instructed.

The soldiers did as they were told.

"Just like this, you could have been assassinated, Your Highness," Edwina told the Führer, her previous nervousness gone. "You should really reconsider this method of examination."

"Hmmm…" Bradley rubbed his chin. "You have a valid point, my dear child. I shall rethink it."

"That's it!" the same light haired solider yelled at Edwina. "You're _disqualified!_"

_Crap…_ the girl thought, beginning to sweat. _I went too far…_

"You can't decide that on your own. She had no trouble in the written exam or philological test," the Head of the Country stated. "From this small sampling, I see her skills are impressive. Not to mention she has guts too."

The golden-blonde alchemist felt proud.

_Clatter!_

The spear Edwina held was sliced in half and the top half fell to the ground. Her eyes widened in surprise look down at it. "_Huh?!_"

King Bradley walked away from her, chuckling as he did so, his sword in his hand. "Just wait for the announcement of your results, 'too young alchemist'."

The girl just stared after him. "When did he take out his sword…?"

_I waited only a week before I got the results of my test._

"This silver watch is the confirmation of your State Alchemist title," Mustang explaining to Edwina, holding the item over her desk to her. Wonderfully crafted, Edwina could not help but think the watch looked beautiful.

The Colonel then opened the document on her desk and read it.

"The Führer has given you a rather ironic second State Alchemist name," the dark-haired Colonel continued as she handed it the paper to the girl.

Edwina read the paper. "Under the authorization of Führer King Bradley, State Alchemist, Edwina Elric, is hereby granted the second name of 'Fullmetal'."

"What do you think, '_Fullmetal Alchemist_'?" the woman asked with a slight smile.

"I think…" a smirk appeared on the blonde's face. "I think it's a tiresome name, but I'll take it."

"Good. Do not forget that you are getting this title and hiding your past. If it were found out that you performed a Human Transmutation, you would be in big trouble. If your sister's secret was revealed, then she would be taken to a laboratory, due to her being the result of a rare transmutation. I am getting a lot of attention for finding you."

The young girl nodded.

"You are dismissed."

The young alchemist left.

_Another week later, Al and I decided to go on a journey to find a way to restore our original bodies. After informing Aunty and Winter of this decision…_

The Elrics and the Rockbells (including Den) watched as the Elric Home burned. The whole place was engulfed in the flames, the furniture, photos, books, everything, were slowly changing to ash and cinders.

"Now there is no turning back," Edwina said, as she threw the last torch into the blaze.

"Yes," Alphonsa said, nodding in her mind.

Edwina turned to see Winter's eyes were shining.

"You're crying _again?_" she said to him.

The boy did not answer.

The older Elric sighed, picking up her suitcase. "When we come back, I hope you've changed into a _man_, Winter."

The two Elric Sisters, aged just twelve and 11-years-old, set off to regain their original bodies.

* * *

**Author's Notes: Wow, this chapter was even longer than the last! Stil i hope you enjoyed it, dear readers! I am back at school this coming Monday, so my update will be slower. Sorry.**

**Leave a review if you want.**

**Thank you. ^_^**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

_**Battle on the Train**_

While Edwina dreamed away, in another carriage on the train, sat a man with greying hair, a long-time server of the Military. His name was Hakuro, and he and his wife had planned a holiday in the east with their children.

"Wow, this train is fast, Daddy!" the General's daughter said. "I can see the steam up above and hear the whistle!"

"Yeah! It makes everything outside look like a blur!" his son added.

The children's mother smiled.

"Now, don't get too excited you two or you'll get tired," Hakuro said. "You promised me you would a lot when we got there."

"Is it really OK to take a holiday, dear?" Hakuro's wife asked.

"Of course. Taking a break and spending time with you and the children will be nice."

Suddenly, the door to their compartment opened to reveal two tall men.

"Are you General Hakuro?" one of the men asked.

"What?" the confused man said. "Well, yes I am, but why you would want t—"

The officers' daughter and son gave a small squeak of fear and grabbed onto their mother as both men at the door pulled out rifles and pointed them at Hakuro.

"Sorry to ruin your little family get-together, General."

Hakuro recognized that deep, dark voice and knew whom it belonged to before he came into view. It was a man tall and muscular; his right eye covered with an eye patch, long, brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, his eyes sharp and his lip moustached.

"You're family holiday is over," said the man the General knew as Bald. "You be embarking on a new holiday…full of thrills and despair."

* * *

The hijacked train is the Oyboy Limited Express, which is coming from New Optain and going to East City," First Lieutenant Hawkeye explained to Colonel Mustang, sifting through his papers as they made their way to the radio room of East City Command. "It was committed by a group of East Area rebels known as 'Blue Squad'."

Hawkeye was taller than Mustang by a good few inches, and perhaps a little stronger on the physical side. He processed red-brown eyes, and short, neat blonde hair with hawk's eye bangs above his left eye. He was four years his commander's junior.

"Have they made any demands?" Mustang asked the man.

Roya Mustang was a rather attractive woman. Now twenty-nine, she had eyes of onyx and straight, raven black, chin length hair in a centre pairing with a spaced fringe. Her hair framed her pretty face perfectly.

She was quite proud of the fact that she had quite large breasts, as being a shameless man-chaser; she boasted that she could use them to get any man to fall for her.

The Lieutenant wore a black, short-sleeved turtleneck under his blue military jacket displaying his rank, while the Colonel wore a long-sleeved white shirt under hers.

"I have a rather spirited one written down here, would you like to read it?" Hawkeye held out the document after finishing speaking.

"No thank you, Lieutenant," the woman replied as she opened the door to the radio room. "Whatever it is anyway, it's insulting to us."

"Quite correct, Ma'am," the blonde agreed.

They proceeded to the radio system at which the other four of the Colonel's subordinates sat. The men were the people the female officer knew she could reply on, having hand-picked them herself.

Sargent Major Kain Fuery, a bespectacled man with short hair as dark as his superior's, lowered his headphones around his neck and was the first to speak. "Colonel, the group known as 'Blue Squad' have taken General Hakuro and his family hostage. A man called Bald said the group would exchange the General's safety, along with the rest of the passengers, for the release of their imprisoned leader."

"What a problem," Mustang said. "And I had met this nice guy in a bar last night and he asked me to go out with him tonight…"

"How about spending a date of overtime with all of us?" joked Second Lieutenant Heymans Breda, a stocky, plump man with a high forehead and a shaggy, brown, crew cut hairstyle. He always had his Military jacket unfastened, revealing the black top he wore underneath.

"Well…we could sacrifice the General and then everything would wrap up on its own," the Colonel said. "He told me once he would have me promoted to Brigadier General if I spelt with him. Urgh, it makes me sick just thinking about it. I bet he treats all the milltery women like that. How _did_ he get a wife and children with such an attitude?"

"I thought you would like that, Ma'am," teased Jean Havoc, a man with dark blonde hair and blue eyes. He was a smoker and had a lit cigarette in his mouth almost anywhere he was. Mustang knew it was pointless telling him to put it out, even in the office or the radio room, as she knew he would refuse.

"You're so funny, Havoc."

"Here is a list of the passengers on board the hijacked train," Fuery said.

Mustang looked over the paper and sighed. "The General knows how unsteady things have been these days and he takes a holiday — ah, men, it looks like we may be able to leave early after all."

"Why?" the confused men, excluding Hawkeye, said in unison.

"The Fullmetal Alchemist is on board."

* * *

The door to the Elric sisters' carriage was suddenly kicked open. Three men with rifles, crying, "Get your hands in the air!", stormed in and took aim at the innocent passengers. The passengers looked at the men, their hands raised, some with fear in their eyes - everyone expect Edwina. She remained sound asleep, curled up in a ball like a cat. Alphonsa did not try to wake her though, in case it caused the men to start firing.

A strong-jawed member of the team noticed the sleeping blonde's lack of response and went over to her.

"You can sleep pretty well at a time like this, girlie," he said, then prodded her with the end of his gun. "Wake up!"

The girl mumbled something and turned over. The man prodded her again and got a similar response.

"I said wake up!" the man cried, hitting the girl harder. "You washboard-chested _shrimp_!"

_That_ woke Edwina up. Never did she miss an insult about her chest or height, even when she was asleep. Silently fuming, she stood, and giving man no time to react, clamped her hands on the barrel of the gun. The man's eyes widened when blue lightening flash from girl's hands - and the barrel of the gun changed into a trumpet.

"What the?!" the man said looking at the firearm. "Why you little bit— " Edwina slammed her left foot into the face of the rebel. He gave a cry of pain before falling to the floor. Alphonsa raised a hand to her face in annoyance and sighed.

Before the golden-eyed girl could continue her assault, one of the rebels moved in and aimed his gun at her head. The other man stayed where he stood, keeping his eyes and weapon trained on the other passengers.

"You just made a _fatal_ mistake, brat," hissed the man, who was wearing a shirt with the sleeves rolled up. "We have instructions to deal with those who do not co-operate quickly, and although I don't feel alright with shooting such a small girl, I "

"Please, sir, calm down!" The younger Elric cried, grabbing the gun in a similar fashion to what she had done in Reole. "There is no need to _Nee-san!_"

The teenage State Alchemist had leapt up, kneeing the rebel in the face, sending him crashing to join his previously defeated team-mate.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL WITH SUCH SMALL BREASTS THAT SHE COULD BE MISTAKED FOR A CHILD?!" Edwina screamed as she beat the very life out of the two rebels, along with the third, who had tried to intervene. The other passengers simply watched, not daring to move even a single muscle.

Eventually, when blood started to drip onto the floor of the steam locomotive, Alphonsa had to say, "Nee-san, if you beat them anymore, you'll kill them."

The older alchemist paused and looked up at her little sister, then back at the men, who were battered, bruised, and sporting one or two black eyes. One was unconscious. "Fine…"

She dropped the men, but not before she gave them one last punch in the gut each. She then tied them up individually with their own ropes.

"I am going to ask you three questions," the blonde addressed the rebels. "Who are you, why are you here, and is there any more of you?"

"We're a rebel or so-called 'terrorist' group from the East Area," the man with the rolled up sleeves said after a moment of defiant silence. "We're here because we wish to have our leader released from prison and, other than the three of us; there are two members in the engine room, four guarding each passenger car where hostages are, and four guarding the First Class car where the General and his family are."

"Aaaand?" the State Alchemist asked, leaning close to the terrorist.

"That's it!" he snapped.

"Are you _sure_ you have nothing else to tell me?"

"Honest! I swear!"

"Ok then. You and your friends can just sit tight here."

"T-there is another ten of them?" a frightened female passenger said.

"They will surely retaliate once they find out what has happened to the three men here," a man said.

Other passengers muttered amongst themselves.

The armour girl sighed yet again. "Sorry everyone. If only a certain someone would have remained calm and co-operative "

"We should not dwell on the past, little sister!" Edwina, who had opening a window and proceeding to climb out of it, announced in an almost solemn tone.

"J-just who are you people anyway?" another man asked.

Edwina turned back to the group of people. "Alchemists."

There was more muttering.

"Al, you fight back down here and all take them out from above," instructed the older Elric as Alphonsa helped her onto the roof of the train. "Wow! The wind pressure is amazing!"

Edwina had never tried the act of 'rain walking' before, and naturally felt nervous. She swayed, crouching in the roaring wind, making completely certain that she had her balance.

"And now…" Edwina said, straightening up, "I'm off!"

Her metal limbs creaked as she ran, needing a little oiling.

The girl did not know was occurring beneath her in one of the carriages. One of the terrorists, in the carriage right behind the one the Elric sister had occupied, had been trying to call his team-mates for a quite a while.

"Why aren't they replying?!" the man angrily said, before turning to the other rebel in the car, saying, "I'm going to check out what's up. Stay here."

"Ok," his partner replied.

The man picked a riffle, opened the door to the next carriage, the very end one - and saw a suit of armour towering above him. He gave a cried and raised his weapon.

"No, no!" Alphonsa cried. "There's no need to use viol "

The terrorist of course fired.

"No, the bullets will just rico "

The man howled in pain as he fell to his own bullet, which pierced his knee.

"I was trying to warn you that the bullets just ricochet of me…too late now," the fourteen-year-old said.

"What the hell is going on?!" said the other man in the adjoining carriage, and seeing his partner and also seeing the armour girl, fired - and got the same result.

As she watched the two men writhe in pain, she could not help but think, Are these guys idiots?_ Why must they do this? I hate violence!_

Further up the carriage, the terrorists who were in the General's compartment realised something had gone amiss.

"Bald, sir, the men in the end car have stopped responding," the man who held the phone informed his temporary leader, who looked up from his sitting position.

"Someone on board must be interfering where they shouldn't," Bald stated in his rouge voice.

"That's impossible!" another rebel said.

"Yeah, we have control of the radio communicator, and eliminated all the escorts. The passengers shouldn't be able to call for help."

"Well, _someone_ must be interfering," Bald said.

"Hmph. So you all really _are_ nothing by a bag of worthless rubbish," Hakuro stated. "Something excepted happens and your plan falls apart. It appears you will not have your way. I suggest you surrender before anything more happens to you!"

Bald raised his right arm, hidden in the jacket draped over his shoulders - and a bullet came out of it. The General cried out in pain as the bullet hit, causing blood to pour from the hole his ear. The children clutched closer to their mother, whimpering "Daddy!" in high-pitched voices full of terror.

"Anymore more blattering and your children will be next, _General_!" Bald growled - and suddenly looked up, his gun pointed at the ceiling. After a few seconds of listening, he had pinpointed his target exactly, fired straight though the ceiling, resulting in a small shriek from atop the train. No one moved.

"Well, well, my suspicions were correct, there _is_ a rat," the moustached man said, he turned to his team-mate who had no hair. "Check the top of the train."

Outside, due to the startling gunshots, Edwina had slipped and fallen on a one of the railed-in platforms at the end of the carriage.

"That was _way_ too close," she scolded herself. "If I didn't have a metal foot, I would have been dead."

The bullet has wedged itself into a gap in the automail limb, and the amber-eyed girl angrily extracted it, tossed it away, and put her shoe back on.

"They are going to pay for this," she said as she got to her feet again. "But first…the engine room."

There were only two men guarding the engine room of the locomotive, one for each worker they had their guns aimed at.

Suddenly, something tiny bounced off the ground before falling completely to the ground.

"What?" said one of the men, walking over to the object to pick it up. "A bullet?"

"How did that get there?" the other man was about to walk forward, but was knocked aside by a foot. The other man whirled around just in time to see his partner hit the floor, unconscious, and a teenaged girl with light golden-blonde hair drop down next to him.

"You little!"

He raised his gun and began to fire. Edwina back flipped out of the way. He shot again, and again got the same result.

"Damn it, why don't you stay still so I can kill you!" the man cried.

Then he noticed something the female did not - every time she moved out of the way, she was moving into a corner.

"Got you now," the terrorist triumphantly, having now got Edwina trapped. He moved closer and shot a hail of bullets at the girls head and chest.

"Uh oh," Edwina said, then transmuted her blade, and used it to just barely block the tiny lead killers. _I can__'__t keep this up for long, I need to move!_

The man laughed. "If you stop resisting, I'll make it quick."

Edwina had to block another lead-storm. The man was now right in front of her, and he pressed the gun to her head.

"Anything you want to say?" the smirking rebel asked.

_Damn__…__I don__'__t want to die in such a pathetic way!_ The girl thought, keeping her fists raised. If she was going to die, she would die with dignity and strength.

"Nothing then? Ok, this won't hur argh!"

Something had stuck the man hard on the head, and he swayed for a few moments before crashing down.

"Are you alright, kid?" asked the girl's saviour.

Edwina opened her eyes. Standing over the terrorist's body, coal shovel in hand, was one of the workers.

"Uh…thanks," she said.

"No problem," he replied.

The two defeated terrorists stirred, regaining consciousness and tried to get up, only to be knocked back down again by a kick from the female alchemist and a hit from the shovel of both of the engine workers.

Edwina back outside, climbing into the coal cart. As she climbed the side, one of the workers asked her, "Is there anything else we can do?"

"You can drive safety," the girl replied.

The man returned inside.

"Got you now, rat-girlie!"

The blonde turned her head to see yet another of the criminal group, this one dark-skinned, holding a rifle aimed at her head. He gave a smirk of glee and started to discharge bullets. The black-clad alchemist gasped and jumped back down onto the ladder, just barely avoiding being killed yet again.

"You should not have done that, arsehole!" Edwina cried, clapping her hands together to build up energy, and leaping back into the coal cart.

The rebel was about to take aim again, but gasped when he saw what the girl was doing. _Damn, an alchemist! Oh no__…_

The girl had transmuted a large cannon from the coal behind her, then had leapt back into the tender to wave the man a cheeky goodbye.

The canon fired, hitting the men square in the face, possibly breaking his jaw. He fell back inside the locomotive.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing with the tender?! It's the train's life!" the engine worker from before shouted his window.

"Oh, sorry!" the alchemist apologized. _Wait__…__tender__…__? That gives me an idea__…_

The man who had been hit with a cannonball was the one of the four guarding General Hakuro's private room.

"Bald!" the dark-skinned man cried. "I hate to admit it, but that girl ain't your typical brat! She's am alchemist!"

"Alchemist, eh?" Bald said.

The rebel walked over to the phone and dialled a number.

"Hey, car two, what's going on?" he demanded.

"Help! A huge suit of armour is "

"'A suit of armour'? What the hell you are talking about?"

The criminal never got an answer, for at that point the heard cries of pain and punching noises, before the phone cut out.

Suddenly lightening crackled at the top of the door to the carriage, and from out of it, appeared a loudspeaker.

"What the hell?" a criminal wearing a bandana questioned.

"_Testing! Testing!__"_a female voice boomed through the loudspeaker._"__Attention all criminals! My younger sister and I have taken back the engine room and every single car excluding this one! How DARE you put innocent lives in danger!__"_

"T-that's the girl who attacked me!" the dark-skinned man realised. "Little blondie bitch! I'll get her back!"

"_I will ask you this only once: Release the remaining hostages and surrender peacefully! Failure to do so will result in us removing you by force!__"_

The terrorists stood their ground for a few moments before - roaring with laughter.

"This kid thinks she can take us on!" laughed the man with the bandana.

None of the people in the carriage noticed a certain animated suit of armour position herself at the door.

"Listen, girlie, as long we got at least one hostage we can't lose!" Bald said in his always-serious tone. "_You_ are the one who should surrender, before you get hurt."

"_Still not giving up?!" _The voice of Edwina asked rhetorically. _"__Well then__…__I guess negotiations are over.__"_

Alchemic energy crackled again and a new object appeared on the door to the car.

"_Hostages, please take shelter somewhere!__"_

General Hakuro and his family barely had time to move before Edwina twisted a valve, sending water tormenting into the carriage, completely flooding it, catching all men in its way. Once she was sure there was enough water, Edwina, from her position on the tender, closed the valve again.

The younger Elric opened the outside door to the car, causing all water and men, excluding Bald, who had managed to grab a hold of something, to come cascading out onto the outside-car floor.

"Hello there, all of you," Alphonsa said sweetly, smiling in her mind.

"A suit of armour?!" said one man.

"That's right," Alphonsa said. "Though I _was_ human once. I hate this body, but it does have one advantage…" she leaned in close to the rebels. "It gives me a great deal of strength."

All male eyes widened. Alphonsa began to beat them senseless, ignoring, and perhaps enjoying, their wails and screams of pain. Despite her pacifistic views, there were occasions where the armour girl _did_ enjoy violence.

"This can't be happening!" Bald shouted to no one.

"Oh, but I'm afraid it is!" a voice shouted back.

Bald looked up, only to have a pair of booted feet hit him square in the face, making him lurch back. His attacked dropped into the room from the door in the roof. As she got up from her crouching position, she transmuted a sharp blade on her right automail arm.

"Another automail user, eh?" she said, spotting the man's exposed left arm.

"You little punk!" Bald cried, then begin to fire at the girl, who dodged the bullets again by back-flipping. Bald fired again and again, the girl always dodging until he ran out of bullets.

"My turn!" the older Elric said, and ran at the eye-patched man - and stabbed her blade straight through the gun part of the arm, then twisted until it was completed detached and fell uselessly to the floor.

"Looks like you got cheap goods and a rubbish mechanic," Edwina taunted.

Bald suddenly swung back his flesh arm; his hand balled into a fist, and drove it across the girl's jaw. She could have done nothing to block it, and was thrown through the air, slamming into a wall and sliding down it, dazed.

Bald walked over to the young alchemist, wrapped his hands around her neck, and lifted her close to his face.

"Once I killed you, I'm going to kill every single passenger on this train," the tall man hissed. "And since I have no bullets left, I'm afraid it will be slow for each one."

Edwina's struggles became weaker and wearing as time went on. Her mind was growing fuzzy and her vision blurry.

Bald suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and an echoing, ten-year-old voice cry, "What do you think you're doing to my Nee-san?!"

The man paused in his strangling to look behind him. Standing behind him was a large suit of gun-metal coloured armour wearing a blue-grey loincloth.

"I'm killing her, what does it look like?" Bald laughed, increasing the intensity of his grip on the older Elric's neck. "And you can't do a thing about it."

"Oh yes I can!" Alphonsa snapped back. She rarely lost her temper, but when someone did something bad to her sister, she showed a more tough personality. "I am going to do _this_!"

Alphonsa pulled back her now-clenched fist back and punched the man in the face just as he had done to her sister. The man dropped Edwina, who started coughing and gasping for air, and fell to the ground. Edwina unsteadily stood up, still a little dizzy.

"N-nice one, Al," she said breathlessly.

* * *

The train had finally arrived at East City Station, all the passengers safe, sound and alive. The train had been surrounded by Military Police, who wore a black version of the higher up Military members, and the terrorists arrested.

Mustang, with her black trench coat draped over her shoulders like a cloak, and Hawkeye walked through the arrested men until they located the Elric Sisters. Jean Havoc was also there.

"Hello there, Fullmetal," Mustang greeted her youngest subordinate.

"Oh…hey Colonel," Edwina grumpily replied.

"What's with that unhappy look?"

_Why did I have to step into the Colonel__'__s jurisdiction? _The young alchemist thought.

Mustang sighed. "As cold as usual I see." She looked over at Alphonsa and Hawkeye, who had walked a bit away. _Why can__'__t she be like them?_

"Hello, First Lieutenant Hawkeye," Alphonsa greeted, politely bowing.

"Hello, Alphonsa-chan," Hawkeye replied, also bowing. "How are you today?"

"Well apart from the stress caused by what we just went though, and losing my temper as a result, I'm fine. And you?"

"I'm doing well too, thank you."

Mustang turned back to the younger female. "I see you still have not developed."

Edwina looked up, an angry expression on her face. "What the hell does _that_ mean?"

"You know fine well, Fullmetal."

"Why you! I may not be a good height for my age or have as big a chest as yours, but at least I'm not a slu "

"You have _no_ chest action at all."

"SHUT UP, COLONEL BITCH!"

"So, how are Black Hayate and Rebecca doing?" Alphonsa asked Hawkeye.

"Well, I have finally completely trained that dog to not urinate indoors anymore," the Lieutenant answered. "As for Rebecca…she's her usual loony self, though I have not seen her for a while."

"Ah, I see."

"Now, now, Fullmetal," the raven-haired woman raised her hands in defense against the infuriated teenager. She could not resist teased the teenager at least once every now and then. "Anyway, on to a more serious matter: How is your quest for restoration going?"

"Not so good," Edwina replied, then balled her metal hand into a fist. "We searched many books, but found nothing. We're going to search East City now."

"Really…I've heard the rumours about you there are big. Some are calling you 'The Hero of the People'."

"You have sharp ears."

"Only because you make a show of it."

Edwina opened her mouth to retort, but was stopped by a sudden slashing noise, and she, Alphonsa, the Colonel and First Lieutenant spun around.

Standing with revenge in his eyes, two unconscious police officers next to him - was Bald.

"You're going to pay for this, bitch!" Bald growled at Mustang, before started to charge towards her, the hidden blade in his automail, which he had used to free himself, aimed at her throat.

Quick as a flash, the blonde man drew out his pistol and moved in front of his superior to protect her. The woman placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Step aside, Lieutenant," she said firmly.

"But, Ma'am!"

"Don't worry," She said with a smile, before showed him the back of her glove, and the Transmutation Circle upon it. "I'll be fine."

As the temporarily Blue Squad leader closed in on the Colonel calmly raised her right gloved hand and clicked her fingers. Flames roared forth from the Transmutation Circle and unfurled Bald, who screamed in pain. Everyone except the Colonel and the First Lieutenant had to shield their eyes. Bald fell backwards in shock, and was quickly pinned to the ground by two more police officers.

The female officer walked up to the man. "I went easy on you that time. Anymore resistance, and I'll turn you into a pile of cinders and ashes, understand?"

"Just who the hell are you?"

The woman stood to her full height and puffed out her chest. "I am Colonel Roya Mustang, the 'Flame Alchemist'. Remember that."

With that, she walked away, motioning for the Elrics and the Lieutenant to follow her.

"That was amazing!" one of the policeman said.

"You've never seen the Colonel do that?" Havoc asked as he drew a fresh cigarette and lighter from his pocket.

"No, just how does she do that?"

"Well those gloves she wears is made from 'spark cloth'. Flick against them hard enough, and a spark will be produced. Then, adjust the oxygen concentration in the air around some flammable and " he flicked the button on his lighter, producing a spark. "Boom!"

"Well I understand the basic idea, but how—"

"She can do it because she's a State Alchemist. The blonde girl you saw is a State Alchemist too."

"What?! You mean the one that took out all the criminals is —"

"Yup."

"I can't believe it…that just isn't human."

* * *

**Author's Notes: My goddnees, It has been AGES since I last updated hasn't it? I am SO sorry, readers! School has been keeping me so busy. Anyway, just like the time, I am not looking foward to the next chapter, and I need only one word to express why: "Nina".**

**Leave a review if you want.**

**Thank you ^_^**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

_**An Alchemist's Anguish**_

"You know, Colonel, you own me for this," Edwina said as she sat in the Colonel's office in East City Headquarters, along with Alphonsa, while the Colonel herself was, as usual, sitting behind her desk.

"Not only for the incident on the train, but for what happened in Reole, too," the Fullmetal Alchemist continued.

"It's unnerving to be in your debt," Mustang said. "But, since you are my subordinate, I'll comply with a request."

"Well then, can you show us to a library holding information on or introduce us to an alchemist that has detailed information on Biological Transmutation?"

"Right this moment?"

"Yes. We want to restore ourselves as soon as possible, remember?"

Mustang stood and strolled over to the shelf full of books and files and run a finger over one row.

"Hmm…let's see…where is he?" the female solider muttered to herself. "You know, Fullmetal, it has being a while since we last met. How about we have a chat over tea?"

"Do I look like an old lady?" Edwina retorted in fury.

Due to that fact that she had her back to her, the golden-eyed girl did not see her superior smirking in amusement. "Ah, here we are."

Taking out the correct document, the female soldier returned to her desk, opened the document and read aloud, "…Artificial synthesis at the cost of two organisms of genetically different backgrounds…" she looked up at the Elric sisters. "He is Shou Tucker, the 'Sewing-Life Alchemist".

* * *

"Shou Tucker successfully transmutated a chimera capable of human speech, and as a result, obtained a licence to become a State Alchemist," Roya explained to the Elrics as the three of them sit in a car that was raking them to the Sewing-Life Alchemist's house.

"A talking chimera?" Edwina said. "That's impossible!"

"It would seem not. I was still a Lieutenant Colonel at the time, so I do not ever see the creature. I heard that it would listen to what people said and learnt to speak it itself. However, the strange time was that it only ever actually said one phase: "'I want to die'."

The older Elric's eyed widen for a few moments while the younger gave the impression of widening eyes.

"After that, it refused to eat, and died," Mustang finished as they pulled up at the house.

As they got out after the Colonel, the sisters had to stop and gasp in awe. It was not a humble street house - but a large, grand, almost-mansion like house with many windows. Mustang was not surprised and merely walked up to the door and rang a bell.

"Are you two coming?" she asked.

"Oh, yes," Edwina said and the two of them began walking again.

Suddenly a bush rustled, and out from it leapt a great, white _thing_, letting out a howl as it flew through the air. The Fullmetal Alchemist screamed as the creature landed on top of her, pining her to the ground with its paw.

"Al! Help me out!" the young State Alchemist cried as she tried to free herself from the beast.

But she was not in danger. The armour girl could not help but giggle, nor could the female Colonel help but smile when they realised what the creature really was: A big, friendly, Great Pyrenees dog, wagging its tail and panting.

"Bad boy, Alexander!" a very young voice scolded as its owner opened the door to the house. "Oh, look, we have a lot of guests."

Standing there was a little girl and a man, the girl holding onto the door handle. The man sighed.

"Nina, that dog is supposed to tied up, remember?" he said.

"Sorry, Daddy," the little girl replied.

The man looked at the other three females. "My apologies. I am Shou Tucker, and this is my daughter, Nina."

"I'm four!" the girl cried happily. "I'm getting big!"

Alphonsa smiled in her mind at the lovability of the child.

The man, a smile on his face, had neat, light brown hair, blue eyes and round spectacles. He was dressed in an open, dark green shirt, the sleeves rolled up, with a black top underneath, along with white trousers and brown shoes. The young girl, Nina, had just-past-waist-length brown hair in a darker shade than her father, pulled back in two low plaits. She also shared her eye colour with her father, though hers were big and bright with the brilliance of early childhood. She was wearing a red t-shirt with a charming little sailor-collar, bluish-white shorts, white socks and brown clogs.

Shou Tucker led the two girls and the woman into his house, Nina and Alexander following.

After Tucker had sent his daughter and Alexander to play in the back garden, the four alchemists all settled down at a table and tea was served. The Elric girls noticed the house was rather messy, with dust covering several surfaces, books scattered about the place and unwashed cups, plates and cutlery piled high in the kitchen and the room they were in currently.

Tucker seemed to detect this and said. "I'm sorry for the mess. This place has lacked a woman's touch for a while, as my wife left me."

_Sexist, _Edwina thought. _You don't need a WOMAN in order to be tidy._

Alphonsa was, as usual, too polite to say anything.

"So, what can I do for you, Lieutenant Colonel?" Tucker asked Mustang.

"Actually, it's this girl here," the Colonel gestured to Edwina, "Who is here for a favour. Her name is Edwina Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, and the girl in the armour is her younger sister, Alphonsa. Also, I was promoted to Colonel a few years ago."

"Oh, congratulations," Tucker replied, then turned to the Elrics. "Pleased to meet you Edwina, Alphonsa. My, my, Alchemists are getting younger and younger."

"This one is interested in Biological Transmutation and she said she would like examine your research. Is that OK?"

"Of course. But if you want me to lay down my cards, so should you. That is what an alchemist does, isn't it? It's Equivalent Exchange. So, why are you interested in Biological Transmutation?"

"She is–"

"Colonel," Edwina said raising a hand to silence her superior officer. "Mr. Tucker has a point."

She reached up and unclipped the thick silver clasp at the top of her black jacket, removed it and placed it over the back of her chair where her red coat was. Tucker's eyes widened.

"My goodness," he gasped. "This is what you, the Fullmetal Alchemist, has to show. So that is how you got your name…"

"Yes," Edwina said moving her now on display automail arm. "Allow me to explain…"

And that she did. She explained everything, from her father leaving her sister and her, to their mother's illness and death, to the attempt at Human Transmutation to try to resurrect their mother, to binding Alphonsa soul to the armour, and finally to her rehabilitation with Automail and her passing of the State Alchemist exam at just twelve. All the while, Alphonsa and Mustang nervously watched Tucker's reactions.

"I see…your mother…it must have being painful, both physically _and_ mentally," The Sewing-Life Alchemist said after Edwina had finished.

"Because I informed the Higher-ups that she had her arm and leg during the East Area Civil War, I must ask you that you mention the Human Transmutation incident to no-one," The Flame Alchemist stated firmly.

"I have no problem with that," Tucker said. "I know it would be pointless for the Military to give up such talent. In that case…" The bespectacled man stood. "Would you all follow me, please?"

The Elric sisters looked at each other, before they too stood, along with the soldier. The three females followed the man along corridors and downstairs until they came to a room in the cellar.

"This is my lab," Tucker said, unlocking the door with a key contained in his pocket, then opening it, and allowing the girls and the woman to peer inside.

All three gasped. Inside were many creatures - chimeras - locked in cages. Some were monstrous, others grotesque, but most with brown fur, black, grey or sharp teeth and claws and glowing eyes. They hissed, roared, and bit at their bars. Even more frightening, were the strange organs and unidentifiable things floating in jars containing coloured liquids. The sisters and the Colonel were slightly disturbed.

"I have being told by many people that I am the authority went it comes to chimeras," the male alchemist said as he closed and locked the door again. He then laughed, seeming not to notice the expressions on his guests' faces. "Though I myself can't say I'm that good."

The man then led his guests to another room, this one more welcoming than the previous. A room full to the brim with books upon books greeted them.

"Wow…" the Elric Sisters said in unison.

Tucker smiled more widely. "This is my file room. If you find it big, I trust you have not seen Central Library."

"Oh, we have," Alphonsa said, as her sister had rushed into the room, and was too busy staring at the books, rubbing her chin as she decided which to read first. "We are just surprised that you have a whole miniature library in your house."

"Most people are," the man replied, then along with the armour girl walked over to the older Elric, who had chosen her first book, which was entitled "A History of Amestris: The Human-Animal Chimera". She was reading intently, her eyes moving swiftly left to right.

"You can both read as many books as you like. I'll be in the lab," Tucker said.

"Ok," said Alphonsa, when the blonde girl did not respond.

"As for me, I'm going back to work," Mustang said, putting on her black coat, which she had brought with her. "The Lieutenant will be impatient to get me started on paperwork. A car will come to pick you two up in the evening, understand?"

"Yes," said Alphonsa, nodding in her mind as she walked over a shelf to pick her own first book.

Tucker, who had been watching Edwina in fascination, accompanied the female soldier to the front door.

"My, she's incredibly focused, that girl Edwina," he said as they walked. "She had lost her awareness of the occurrences around her within seconds."

"Yes, that is why she became a State Alchemist at the young age she did," Mustang said. "She's amazing."

"Amazing? Perhaps even…a genius?"

"Precisely that."

"Simply incredible…women really are moving up in the world. My wife was but a humble homemaker."

Mustang resisted the urge to reply angrily to that statement as they reached the door. Tucker opened it, stepping aside to let the Colonel pass.

"Be safe out there, Colonel, and I hope to see you again soon," he kindly said.

"I will. Goodbye for now," the female Colonel replied before proceeding to her waiting car.

Much, much later on, in the middle of her twenty-third book, "A Guide to Bio-alchemy: Volume VII", Edwina glanced up at the clock.

"Crap!" the teenager exclaimed, upon seeing it was almost five o'clock. "I've been reading for too long."

She stood and noticed her sister was nowhere to be seen.

"Al? Al? Alphonsa?" the blonde called, stating to search. "Where did she go…?"

Suddenly there was another howl, and the great white mass of Great Pyrenees leapt out of no-where and landed on top of the girl, causing her to scream again as she was pinned to the library floor.

From around the corner, which Alexander had pounced from, came Alphonsa, carrying a laughing Nina on her shoulders.

"Oh, hi, Nee-san," the armour girl said upon noticing the older girl trapped under the dog.

"Don't 'Hi, Nee-san' me!" Edwina snapped. "You're supposed to be looking through files like me!"

"Nina looked look she wanted to play," Alphonsa said.

"Don't be so easygo_–_!"

Alexander licked the young State Alchemist's face.

"Looks like Alexander wants to play with Little Big Sister too!" the little brunette chirped.

"Oh really?" Edwina said, managing to break free and turn to the family pet, addressing him and ignoring the 'little' part of Nina's name for her. "Are you _sure_ you want to play with me, dog? Have you got the guts? They said lions run out of energy chasing rabbits," Edwina paused then suddenly started to head towards the dog at a run. In the response, Alexander barked and began running away from the advancing girl.

"I, EDWINA ELRIC, AM GOING AFTER YOU WITH EVERYTHING I GOT, YOU DAMN MUTT!" the teenager shirked so loudly that Tucker could surely hear her down in the cellar laboratory.

Alphonsa sighed while Nina laughed.

Later on again still, Jean Havoc arrived at the Tucker household. He was directed to the Library by Tucker.

"Yo, Boss, I'm here to pick you up," Havoc said as he found the Elrics, along with Nina and Alexander. "Wait - what are you doing down there?"

Alexander had her underneath him once again.

"Let's just say I'm taking a break…" Edwina growled.

"Did you find anything helpful or interesting?" her bespectacled host asked.

The younger blonde rounded on him with a daggered expression.

"You can come again, tomorrow," he said, nervous.

"Will you come back to play tomorrow, Bigger Sister?" the youngster asked Alphonsa.

"Yes, we will, don't worry," she replied, liking the name the youngster had dubbed her.

"That's good!"

The Fullmetal Alchemist freed herself once again and walked up to the Second Lieutenant, her expression remaining annoyed.

Just as they were about to leave the house, Havoc stopped.

"Oh, Mr, Tucker, I have a message to pass on from the Colonel," he said. "She said 'Evaluation Day is coming soon. Don't forget'."

The Sewing-Life Alchemist stood there for a few silent moments before slowly nodding and replying, "Yes, I understand,"

The Second Lieutenant and the Elric Sisters took their leave.

As he locked the door, Tucker heard a small voice ask, "Daddy, what's 'Evaluation Day'?"

The man crouched at his beloved daughter's level and explained,

"Once someone becomes a State Alchemist, they have the responsibility to report the results of his research every year. If they do not make a good enough report, their State Alchemist licence is revoked. Daddy didn't get a good report last year, and if he fails again this time, he won't be a State Alchemist anymore."

"But, Daddy!" Nina cried, wrapping her hands around her father's neck in a comforting hug. "It will be OK! You just need to study lots."

"Yes. There won't be anymore chances…" Tucker said to himself, drawing his child into his arms. "I don't have any more chances…"

That next day, Nina had decided to tell the Elrics about her family. The younger listened completely, but the older only partially as she was buried in the written word again.

"Ah, so it was two years ago, your mother left?" Alphonsa asked.

"Yeah," replied the young girl, who was leaning against Alexander, and dressed in a plain pink t-shirt with a golden-yellow dress over it. "Daddy said she 'went back to her family'."

The younger Elric could certainty sympathise, as she and Edwina could completely understand what it was like to lose a mother. "It must be lonely to live in such a big house with only your father."

"Not really. Daddy's nice and I have Alexander!" the young girl said, hugging her pet, who licked her face with affection. "But…" the girl looked sad, and began to stroke Alexander's fur. "Lately it's been lonely, because Daddy has been staying in his lab all day. Even if I go call him, he won't come out."

"Oh…" said the younger Elric.

Edwina then yawned and stretched in her nest of books, interrupting the conversation. "I'm getting stiff from sitting here reading all day." She rubbed her neck and got to her feet, then began stretching her legs.

"The best cure for stiffness is exercise, Nee-san," Alphonsa informed her sister.

"Right. I'll go exercise in the garden."

"I'll come!"

"Me and Alexander too!" Nina said with a smile on her face. "I'm bored with sitting in here."

"_Hey, MUTT, since I need to exercise, I'll play with you!_" the Fullmetal Alchemist addressed Alexander in the same angry, challenging voice as the day before, though not as loud.

After the blonde had collected her coat, the three girls went outside and began to play, Edwina and Alphonsa acting almost as young as Nina. They played tig and had races, Nina used Alphonsa's back as a slide, Nina chased Edwina on Alexander's back and vice versa. By the end of it, however, Alexander was back in his new favourite spot.

"YOU DAMN MUTT!" the older Elric shrieked from under the animal's paws while Alphonsa and Nina laughed at her misfortune again.

Though he could hear them, none of them could see Tucker in the cellar, his hands on his head as he sit there, completely unable to come up with anything for his evaluation.

_At least you three can play…_ the man thought to himself. _I don't have any other choice. Nina…please forgive me…_

* * *

"Looks like it's going to rain today," Edwina said, looking up at the overcast sky as Alphonsa rung the doorbell.

"Mr. Tucker?" Alphonsa said, when there was no reply from inside the house. She tried the door. It was unlocked. "Mr. Tucker, thank you for inviting us in advance," the armour girl called as she and Edwina entered the house. "Huh?"

The house appeared completely empty, no Nina running around, no Alexander leaping on Edwina, nothing. The sisters made their way though the quiet, soulless corridors, every so often Alphonsa calling "Mr. Tucker?", the creaks and groans of her armour seeming louder than normal in the quiet household. All the while, her sister did not say a word. The State Alchemist sensed something was wrong, so very wrong. They checked the laboratory, the library, the dinning room, and eventually, they found him. He was in a secret room inside the laboratory, (a room they had a hard time locating, being secret). He was in a crouching position, muttering words to something that was hidden from view behind the half-open door. They could also see a single, solitary cage and more unidentifiable things floating in jars containing coloured liquids.

"Who are you talking to, Mr. Tucker?" Edwina asked as she and Alphonsa looked through the door, and speaking for the first time since entering the house, her voice level and showing nothing of her unnerved emotional state.

The Sewing-Life Alchemist looked around and upon seeing his guests, smiled and said, "There you are, girls. I was beginning to think you weren't coming. Look…" He stood and moved aside. "This is my finished product. This…" he spread out his arms. "Is a chimera that can speak human words."

The Elric were shocked. The creature Tucker revealed was a dog-like beast that had a build similar to a small lion. It was hunched over, and processed the same glowing white eyes the other chimeras did, expect this one had a carpet of brown hair coming out of its head and went all the way down its back and formed into a tail. A few loose stands also hung over its face.

"Watch," Tucker said, crouching next to the chimera. "The one in red and black is Edwina."

"Ed…wina?" the creature said in a slow, deep voice.

"That's right. Good job," congratulated Tucker, patting the creature on the head.

"Good…job?"

"Wow, it really is talking!" the blonde girl said, as she and her sister crouched in front of the animal. The older girl still felt something was not right.

"I'm glad I managed to finish it in time for the examination," Tucker said.

"Can you say 'Alphonsa'? That's my name," the younger girl said.

The creature had more trouble saying this word.

"Al…phon…sa" it said after a few stutters.

"That's right," the younger Elric congratulated.

"I saved my neck," the bespectacled alchemist laughed. "I won't have to worry about my research funds for the time being."

"Ed…wina…Ed…wina…" the chimera repeated. "Ed…wina…Little…Big…Sister…"

Edwina's eyed widened as she realised the truth.

"Nee-san?" Alphonsa asked as her sister got up and turned around to face Tucker.

"Mr. Tucker," the blonde said in a low, stern, serious voice.

"Hm?" the man said.

"When was your research on talking chimeras and when did you get your licence?"

"Two years ago, I believe," Tucker replied, rubbing his chin.

"And when did your wife leave?"

"Two years ago."

"One more question," the female alchemist's expression turned fierce as she barked, "Where are Nina and Alexander?"

For a few moments, there was silence, then - Tucker laughed.

"This is what I hate about children…they have good instincts," he said.

After giving an animalistic scream of rage, the girl, in a heartbeat, had rushed at the older alchemist, grabbing him by his collar and slamming him against the wall behind him, using her elbow to stop him from moving.

"Nee-san, what are you doing?" Alphonsa cried. She may have being convinced, but Edwina was no such fool.

"So _that's _how it is, is it?" Edwina screamed. "You son of a bitch! You complete and utter _bastard!_ First you used your wife two years ago, and now you used your own _child_ and dog to transmute a talking chimera!"

"_What?_" the younger girl said, turning her metal head to look at the chimera. "Bigger…Sister…" the chimera said.

"No…" if she was human, the younger Elric sister would have begun crying at that point.

"Animal experimentation has it limits, so you thought you would use humans, right? Are the other chimeras made using humans too?" Edwina demanded to know.

Tucker said nothing.

"Answer me!" Edwina shouted, shaking the man.

"Why are you so angry?" Tucker calmly asked, a maddening look developing in his eyes. "Haven't the advances of mankind occurred because of countless experiments on their own kind, in areas such as medical science? As a fellow scientist, you should know-"

"I don't _think_ so! Do you really think you will be forgiven for these heinous experiments? For…for…toying with human life?"

Tucker gave a crazed laugh. "'Toying with human life', eh? Look at yourself, Fullmetal Alchemist. Look at your limbs! Look at your younger sister! You and I have much in com-"

Tucker's glasses went flying off; blood and saliva flew from his mouth as Edwina drove her metal fist across his face. The force of the punch sent him to the floor. Alphonsa simply watched, frozen in horror.

Tucker looked at up the infuriated blonde-haired person, and laughed. "Your attempt to resurrect your dear mother using Human Transmutation and the results of which, surly _these_ can be called 'toying with human life'?"

Edwina kicked him, screaming, "You're wrong!"

"Oh, but I'm not," the man said. "We _are_ alike."

"_You're wrong!_" Edwina cried, and punched the man again.

"Even though you knew it was banned, you performed Human Transmutation. You are-"

He was stuck again.

"We alchemists….these things…No!" Edwina punched the man again. "I…" Another strike. "I…" And another. "_I…_" she let out another scream, completely losing it, and delivering a barrage of punches, kicks and strikes, all the while screaming, shouting and swearing.

After a while, Alphonsa could take no more.

"Nee-san, _stop!_" the armour girl cried, moving to her sister and restraining her, but the determined older alchemist fought her off. She looked down at the bloodied man in front on her on the ground, seeing no remorse, no regret. She raised her fist one last time, ready to deliver the finishing blow - and felt a tucking at her coat. She looked down to see Nina - or rather Nina-Alexander - the end of the coat gripped between her now canine teeth.

"Please….stop…Little Big Sister," she said slowly. "Don't…hurt…Daddy…anymore…"

"You still love him, Nina?" Edwina cried. "After what he did?"

"He's…my…Daddy…"

Alphonsa took this distraction as an opportunity to restrain the older girl once again, and this time succeeded, throwing her over one large metal shoulder and holding on tightly.

"I'm not going to leave him alive! He deserves to die!" Edwina cried, kicking and wriggling and struggling. "Al, let _go!_"

The Sewing-Life Alchemist, barely recognisable, dragged himself over to a wall and propped himself up against it.

"It's not possible to get things done without dirtying your hands," he said as the Elrics, along with Nina-Alexander, left.

"Mr. Tucker," the armour girl responded, pausing. "If you don't stop talking…_I'll_ shut you up."

After making sure they were as far away from Tucker in the house, Alphonsa released Edwina, who, having since gone completely silent, sat down, her eyes brimming with tears she refused to let fall.

After looking her over, Alphonsa began to stroke the chimera's head in a comforting manner and sadly admitted, "I'm so sorry, Nina. We can't return you to normal, not with our limited knowledge."

After a few moments, Nina-Alexander spoke. "Let's…play"

"What?" the armour girl said, startled at the request.

"Let's…play…please…"

* * *

Rain was now pelting down, a weather most befitting the mood, as Mustang and Hawkeye walked towards the entrance of East Command.

"If there was anything that could be called 'The Work of the Devil', this incident would be it," the blonde man stated.

"'Work of the Devil'? State Alchemists are the human weapons of the Military. If something were to happen, we would be mobilised, and should the order be given, we must dirty our hands," the Colonel explained said. They exited the building and entered the rain. "As far as human life goes, our actions, and those of Shou Tucker don't differ much. I trust you of all people should understand this, Lieutenant."

"I do," the blonde man replied. "Though your reasoning is that of an adult. Edwina…is still a child, even if she does act like an adult." He looked down at the two girls who sat upon the steps further down. Edwina had her knees drawn up to her chin with her arm wrapped around her legs, not caring that she was soaked almost to the skin.

"As she goes down the path she herself has chosen, she will likely face more hardships and aguish. And even if she must do it by force, she must move on…" Mustang walked down a few more steps closer to the girls. "Isn't that right, Fullmetal?"

There was no response.

"How long are you going to sulk like that?"

After a few more moments, the young alchemist spoke, though only one, simple, low-voiced phase, "Shut up."

"No matter if you are called a 'Dog of the Military' or a 'devil'; _you_ are the one who decided to make full use of the privileges given to State Alchemists to aid in restoring yours and you sister's bodies. Do you really have time to have a metal breakdown about something so minor?" the Colonel continued as she started walking down the stairs again, Hawkeye following, though finding it hard to resist the urge put his arms around the girl and comfort her.

"'Minor, huh?" the girl said. "I'll restore our bodies, even if we are called 'dogs' or 'devils'. Still, we are not devils, nor are we the opposite, 'gods'…" she suddenly and quickly stood up, her fists clenched at her sides and shouted, "We are _human beings!_" she finally let the tears fall from her eyes. "AND WE COUN'T SAVE ONE LITTLE GIRL!" her voice changed to just above a whisper. "We are insignificant, useless, worthless human beings…"

Roya had reached the bottom of the stairs. Not looking at the younger alchemist, she told her, "You'll catch a cold if you stay out her any longer. Go back to your dorm room and rest."

At that moment, inside the house, his face covered with plasters and bandages, his glasses cracked, and still stained with blood, Tucker was thinking. He was sitting in one of the upstairs rooms, Nina-Alexander sitting at his feet.

"Why doesn't anyone understand, Nina?" Tucker asked in a rhetorical fashion. He heard a sudden noise. "Hm?"

There was a stranger in the open doorway. This someone was male, with a dark complexion and a muscular build.

He appeared to be in his mid thirties, with could be seen by his hair, which was shaved close on the back and sides, was dark gray, leaving a silver-coloured crown on top. Even though he wore sunglasses, it could be see that the upper portion of his face is disfigured with a large X-shaped scar that stretched across his forehead and down over his eyes into his upper cheeks.

His clothing was rather simple: a gold or perhaps yellow, coloured jacket emblazoned with a cross on the back and sleeves, a white, long-sleeved top, a pair of black slacks with a white cross on the left leg and a white stripe running down the right.

"Who are you, what do you want with me?" the State Alchemist asked, standing up. "Wait! How did you get in? There should be police outside!"

Little did he know those police were lying on the ground, never to move again.

"Alchemists who turn away from the faith of God…" the scarred man raised his right hand. "Must be _annulated!_" his hand lit up with alchemic lightening, and he slammed into Tucker's face and blood exploded from his face, quickly spreading out around him. The dark-skinned man let the alchemist's limb body fall to the floor. Nina-Alexander, having witnessed this, moved over to her father, sniffing at his arm.

"Daddy…" the chimera whimpered. "Daddy…" She could not understand. Why was her father not responding? Who was this man who had just done something to him to make him not respond? She began to cry. "Daddy…Daddy…Daddy…"

"It's sad…" the man said, reaching down to gently pet the creature's head. "You can never be restored to human form," his hand began to glow again. "At the very least, rest in peace." Blood explored from the chimera's body, and like Tucker before, fell to the floor and into eternal sleep.

As he walked out of the house, the stranger said, "God. Our glorious God who created everything in this world…" he turned his eyes to the sky. "Please usher this child's soul to your great bosom and grant her peace and salvation."

* * *

**Author's Notes: My goddness, It has been AGES since I last updated hasn't it? I am SO sorry, readers! School has been keeping me so busy. Anyway, just like the time, I am not looking foward to the next chapter, and I need only one word to express why: "Nina".**

**Leave a review if you want.**

**Thank you ^_^.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

_**The Right Hand of Destruction**_

She was dreaming of her yesteryears again…

"_Mum! Mum!" little Edwina called as she ran, her ponytail swinging._

"_What's the matter, Edwina?" Trisha asked with an apron full of freshly picked tomatoes as her oldest daughter came to halt in front of her, her hands behind her back._

"_I made a present for you," the little girl said, holding out a small metal dog._

"_Oh, for me?" Trisha said, taking the dog. "It's lovely. How did you make it?"_

"_I transmuted it!"_

"_Well done. That's father's little girl," the woman said, stroking the girl's head. "You are so talented, making something so perfect. But…" _

_Trisha suddenly began to change. Blood began to drip down from her head, her eyes turned frightening. She became a most grotesque imitation of her former self, completely unrecognizable, striking fear into the heart of the child before her._

"_You could not make ME right," the woman-turned-thing hissed in a haunting tone._

_The present and the tomatoes fell to the ground as the thing walked forwards, causing little Edwina to back away._

"_Why could you not make me right, Edwina, despite what you are capable of? Your own mother…how you mess up that?"_

_The little girl turned to flee - only to find herself in Shou Tucker's library with Nina and Alexander behind her._

"_Miss, let's play," Nina said smiling, then suddenly, just like that, she and Alexander became that horrid chimera. "Let's play…in hell!"_

"_I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Edwina cried as she started to run, the thing and the chimera chasing her. "Please forgive me!"_

_She ran and ran and ran though the seemingly endless book shelves, trying to escape the from the things that she had been responsible for, the thing that she turned had own beloved mother into, along with the thing an innocent child had become - until she tripped. She yelped as she toppled forwards and landed on her belly. She turned over she saw her monstrous mother and Nina-Alexander were now standing over her once more. She could not help it. She screamed. She screamed and screamed - until she woke._

Edwina sat bolt upright in her dorm bed, her mouth still open in a scream. Once she had stopped making that noise, she sat there, panting with cold sweat covering her body. She hugged herself in an attempt to comfort herself.

"It hurts…" she whimpered, crying once again. For a long time, she sat, her legs drawn up to her chest and her arms around them.

The sky, too, was still weeping.

Later on, after recovering from the nightmare, taking a shower and getting dressed (her usual outfit, though minus her black jacket), Edwina made her way to Mustang's office.

"Nee-san, are you alright? You look a little pale," Alphonsa asked, clanking slightly as she walked behind her older sister.

The blonde girl took a few moments to answer, "I'm fine, Al. I just had a nightmare, you don't need to worry." Her voice was low and full of melancholy.

"Oh…OK."

The younger girl did continue to worry, though in silence as the young State Alchemist looked the epitome of misery.

They reached the Colonel's office and knocked on the door. After a dew moments, Hawkeye, his black Military coat slung over one arm and a file in his hand, opened the door.

"Oh, hello Edwina-chan, Alphonsa-chan," he said. "What brings you here so early?"

"Oh, hello First Lieutenant. I want to ask something," the girl said, taking a deep breath, she asked her question, her head lowered. "What's going to happen to Mr. Tucker and Nina?"

The soldier paused, before replying in his usual serious tone, but with a hint of sombreness, "In addition to having his license revoked, it was planned that Mr. Tucker was be put on trial in Central, but…he and his daughter…" he had to take a deep breath before he could continue. "He and his daughter…died."

Edwina's head shot up and she gasped.

"Officially, they were 'killed'," the blonde male continued, then put his coat.

The State Alchemist's eyes widened.

"I'm telling you this you this because, even if I lied, you would probably figure it out eventually." The man began walking away. "I'm going to the crime scene."

"But…!" Edwina cried, and the two girls followed the man. "But, who?! Why?! When?! Tell me!"

He stopped and turned around, then firmly said, "I don't know. But I may find out at the scene of the murder, so excuse me."

"Take me with you, then."

"Nee-san, you know we can't." Alphonse said.

The Lieutenant sighed. He put down his file, and placed his hands on the blonde girl's shoulders. "Look, if I find anything out, I will tell you, OK?"

Edwina looked at the floor.

"Ok?" the male blonde repeated, gently shaking the girl.

"…Ok."

"Good." Turning and picking up his file, he left.

At Tucker's house, a surprise had been revealed.

"Hold on a minute, Colonel, I came to pick up a _living _Shou Tucker," said Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes, a member of the Investigation Division in Central. "Am I supposed to take a _corpse _to court?"

He, along with Major Alex Louis Armstrong, Mustang, and Hawkeye, and several Military police, where in Shou Tucker's house. Tucker and Nina-Alexander's blood-soaked corpses were covered with blankets.

Tall and lean, Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes offset his sharp military uniform with a thin chinstrap of scruffy beard and his jovially spiky hair ending in a characteristic forelock. He also had rectangular spectacles framing his hazel eyes.

"Argh!" cried Mustang, clamping hand on her forehead in frustration. "For goodness sake! I know we made a mistake, Lieutenant Colonel, we didn't come all the way from Central to perform an autopsy. Just take a look anyway."

"Fine, fine," Hughes said, and lifted up the blanket and peered under it, along with Major Armstrong. "So here we have the kind of person who would be twisted enough to experiment on his own child. It's just as I police died in the same way?"

"Yes," the Colonel answered. "What is your opinion, Major Armstrong?"

Alex Armstrong was a very tall man, standing at about two metres tall, and was heavily muscled and toned. He was complete bald, safe for a small curl of pale blonde hair near the top of his head and his large, thick moustache. His eyes were rather small.

"There's no doubt about it," the major stated. "It's _him._"

* * *

Reole was in chaos. In the streets, the still deluded believers were fighting the so-called 'heathens', those who had come to their senses. Windows had been smashed and buildings were reduced to rubble. Some residents had armed themselves with a knife or sword while others used their bare fists. All the while, terrified children cried and begged for the violence to stop.

"Look at them, Gluttony," Lust said as she observed the events from a church balcony with her plump partner.

"Foolish, foolish," the younger homunculus repeated.

"I agree with you there."

"But it's annoying."

"Oh, hello _Founder._" Lust said as she and Gluttony moved to face the bald man.

"Sir!" Gluttony cheered.

"This is getting annoying," the priest said.

"Sorry to bother you," Lust replied.

"When this is over, will you let me go back to the city I was in charge of?"

"Yes." The woman returned to looking out at the town. "When that Fullmetal girl interfered I wondered what to do…but she actually _helped _us, as you can see from the result we have here, she finished our work faster than we scheduled to do it ourselves."

"Yes and it happened with so little effort. You manipulating a piece of information, and me giving a little shove to my followers."

Outside, the first child casualty fell lifeless to the ground, stabbed with multiple shards of glass in the frenzy.

"Yes," said the woman. "Humans are so very simple. Bloodshed begets more bloodshed and hatred begets more hatred." Another resident, a man this time, violently met his demise. "A powerful energy roots into the ground and carves a crest of blood. No matter how many times they repeat it, they can't learn from it. Humans are such stupid and pathetic." The woman returned to surveying the streets.

"Isn't that how our plans turned out how we desired?" Cornello asked.

The woman did not reply, only smirked.

"Lots of people will die?" the plump homunculus asked.

"Yes. Many," the woman answered.

"Can I eat the dead?"

"No."

"Aw, not fair! You never let me!"

Ignoring him, Lust tuned back to the Founder. "Envy, how long are going to stay like that, you're making me feel sick."

"Aw come on, it was done in the spirit of things," the man said, then his body began to cackle with red, lightening-like energy. He grew hair, his skin smoothed and become toned and muscular and he became shorter.

After a few moments, the fourth oldest homunculus, Envy, was in its preferred form. Contrary to its previous form, Envy was genderless. Its preferred form was an androgynous late-teenager with long, wispy black hair, some strands of which came diagonally over its face and a semi-muscular, yet feminine build. It was wearing a midriff-baring, halter-neck sleeveless top, a skort that revealed the shorts underneath by ways to a slit in each side. On its hands and feet receptively, it had fingerless gloves in the style of wrist guards, and toeless, heelless socks. As was the custom for all homunculi, Envy's clothing was all black.

"I love looking cute and young like this," it said with a smirk and a hand on its hip. Just like the other two, it had the red lines and knobs of it kind. The knob was on its back and the lines extended to its shoulders, and final set of lines were on its headband in a triangular shape.

"It's so contrasting to your personality. You have the vilest among us," the woman said with a laugh.

"You want to fight, old lady?!" Envy challenged.

There was suddenly the sound of quickly running feet and a cry of, "Founder! Wh wait, who are you, you monsters?!"

The three homunculi turned around. Standing behind them, with a look of a mixture of surprise and anger on his face was Brother Clay, having just seen Envy transform.

"Who are you creatures?!" the priest demanded to know. "Why are you here?! Where is the founder?!"

Lust and Envy looked at other for a few moments, then Lust extended one of her nails again, and like Cornello before him, he fell to her precision and speed.

"'Monsters'? How rude," the black-haired humanoid creature said.

"Eating time!" Gluttony yelled.

"I said _no_, Gluttony!" the only present female angrily cried.

Again, the younger homunculus ignored her and began to munch and crunch away.

"I heard Shou Tucker of East City was killed," the would-be-male homunculus said.

"Tucker…oh, the Sewing-life Alchemist?" Lust asked.

"Yeah."

"I don't care about that small fry of an alchemist."

Envy turned around. "Well I don't either! It's all about _that _guy."

"East City, huh? Was that Flame Alchemist Colonel there too?"

"Yeah, and the Fullmetal shrimp."

"The Fullmetal Alchemist…I really don't like her interfering with our work, but we can't kill her. She is an important 'sacrifice', after all."

Envy smirked, now looking back out at the violence. Several more residences of the desert city had fallen.

"Lust, I'm done!" Gluttony suddenly said, walking over to the other two.

Lust sighed. "Wipe your face, Gluttony."

The plumb man did so.

"I don't know who 'that guy' is, but he could cause a problem if he gets involved," the muscled homunculus said.

"Well, do you his name?" the woman asked, now standing next to Gluttony.

Back over at Tucker's house, Mustang had just asked very same question as the homunculus.

"…Scar?" the Colonel repeated in confusion with her arms folded under her bosom.

"Yeah, we don't know his real name, or very much about him at all," Hughes explained, now standing.

"In fact, the only piece of information we have on him is that he has a large X-shaped scar on his face, and so we call him that," injected Armstrong. "He is an elusive killer."

"Since the beginning of this year, he has taken out five State Alchemists here in Central and ten nationwide," the Lieutenant Colonel continued.

"That rumour has spread here too," Mustang said.

Hughes leaned in slightly, adjusting his glasses. "This is just between just us three, so don't tell anyone, but, just five days ago, old man Gran was taken down."

Mustang's hair whipped about her face as she quickly moved it to face her friend. "Brigadier General Bosque Gran, the 'Iron-Blood Alchemist'?! The hand-to-hand combat specialist?!" she cried in a whisper.

"Yes. You should increase the number of escorts around you, because if this guy is going after famous people, then there's only you left."

"I don't more escorts! I can take care of myself!" the woman cried, her voice loud enough for everyone to hear. Some of the Military Police looked round, but one look at the Colonel and her raising hand ready to snap was warning enough.

"I'm asking you do this as your friend," The Lieutenant Colonel said. "If Tucker was done-in in this way, you should hey!"

Mustang completely ignored the last part of Hughes's advice, turned to one of the Military Police and ordered, "Confirm if the Elric Sisters are still at the inn, immediately!"

"Colonel!" Hawkeye cried, walked up to her. "I met the Elric Sisters as I was leaving to come here. They walked down the main road."

"At a time like this?!" the female soldier yelled. She turned to the other officers in the room. "Ok then, get the cars! All that can must head for the vicinity of the main road!"

* * *

Edwina and Alphonsa had been sitting alone on the base of a clock tower for a good while.

Edwina was once again soaked almost to the skin, and her hair was dripping, but once again, she did not care.

"Hey, Al?" she said, speaking for the first time since her conversation with First Lieutenant Hawkeye.

"Yes, Nee-san?" responded the armour girl, glad that her sister was talking again.

"My head is so full of stuff. I spend all last thinking about what we believe alchemy is," the older female said, standing up.

"'Alchemy is the knowledge, analysis, and recreation of the laws and currents that exist within substances'," Alphonsa quoted.

"'The world spins by these laws. Death is also a part of these currents,'" the older girl continued the quote, sitting back down again. "'Embrace the currents. Embrace the currents.' Sensei has told me that so many times it's annoying. I thought I understood it…but I don't, and because of that, back then mother was…" she stopped, unable to say anything more about her mother, so she changed the subject. "And now, I'm wondering if I really _could_ have done something about something I supposedly can't do anything about." An image of a happy Nina along with Alexander appeared in her mind and she folded her arms as it faded. "I'm such an idiot. I haven't changed a bit since then." she turned her eyes to the heavens. "I thought if I went outside I would feel better, as if the rain would wash away my sadness, but every drop that falls on me makes me more depressed." she lowered her head again.

"Well, as I have no body, I can't feel the rain, or the cold. It makes me sad, and it hurts." she raised a leather and metal hand into the air before continuing. "I really want to become human again, even if it means turning against the flow of the world. I want to feel the rain again, I want to feel coldness, warmth, the feeling of a full stomach after a hot meal, but most of all, I want to feel _you_,Nee-san. I hate not being able to feel you hug me or pat my head or things like that."

"I will get it back, Al, I swear. I would even give up my life if it would mean you were restored."

"No!" Alphonsa cried. "You can't say that! I don't want to lose you for _any_ reason, even if it _did_ mean I was restored. I want us to gain our original bodies together, to walk home to Winter and Aunty together and see their joy at our return."

"But, Al—"

The older teenager was suddenly interrupted by the sound of wet feet pounding the pavement and a cried of, "Miss Elric!"

The two sisters saw that a Military Police officer was approaching them. None of them noticed a dark-skinned man in sunglasses and an X-shaped Scar on his forehead as he walked by.

"…Elric?" he said, his expression becoming fierce. "…Edwina Elric…"

"Thank goodness you're alright!" the police officer said as he skidded to a halt. "You are to return to base immediately. Colonel Mustang's orders. There's this serial killer going about killing State Alchemists and…"

Neither Elric was listening.

"What do you want," Edwina asked the man now standing behind the officer, the man with the scarred face. Startled, the officer turned around.

"Are you Edwina Elric?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Edwina Elric…_the Fullmetal Alchemist!_"

Before he could react, Scar activated the power in his right hand, which again light up with blue electricity, and slammed it into the police officer's face, and like Tucker before him, blood exploded out as it was destroyed and he fell, dead before he even hit the ground. Turned his attention to the older Elric, he geared for another blow, but the girl, letting out a yelp, jumped aside and the man hit the clock instead, turning it to rubble. Edwina stood there, rooted to the spot.

_This is bad!_ She thought. _But why can't I run away? My legs won't do what my brain is telling them to!_

The scarred man walked closer and closer.

"Nee-san!" Alphonsa cried.

Suddenly, as though Alphonsa's call was why, the female State Alchemist regained control of her body. Leaping out of the way of another assault, the golden-eyed alchemist run down the street, the armour girl in front.

"You won't get away!" Scar cried in his gruff voice, perusing, as he caused an explosion, which the girls just barely dodged.

"Wah!" Edwina cried, as she slipped and fell as they rushed down a hill. Alphonsa grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back to her feet. "Come on!"

As the Elrics sped through the streets, they were bombarded with more explosions of stone and brick and Edwina slipped a few more times on the puddle-littered ground, each time being pulled back to her feet by her younger sister.

"What the hell have I done?!" Edwina called over her shoulder to the murderer chasing her. "Sure, I make enemies a lot, but that doesn't mean you can tale my life for it!" She looked ahead again. Alphonsa was gone. Edwina started to panic a little. Then, as she run past an alleyway, a pair of hands grabbed her and pulled her into it. Thinking she was caught by the scarred man, she was about to yell "Get the hell off me!" and clap her hands, but one of the hands clamped over her mouth and a familiar hollow voice said "Nee-san, it's me."

"Al, what are you ?"

"Shh!"

The amour girl leaned down, drew out a piece of chalk and quickly drew a Transmutation Circle. She then crouched and activated the Circle, throwing up a stone wall.

"Now, _run!_" the younger cried as she returned to her feet. Only a few moments later, the wall the armour girl had created was blasted apart about by Scar.

"Oh, nice one, Al!" the blonde sarcastically shouted. "We could have been escaping, but you had to stop to make that wall!"

"I thought it would hold him back!" Alphonsa replied.

The two girls ran harder, and Edwina began to run short of breath. Scar smirked as he watched the two girls head for the alleyway exit. _I don't think so._

Placing his hand on the wall next to him, he destroyed it in such a way that the debris piled up and blocked the exit. The two female alchemists stopped and turned around to face their attacker.

"Who the hell are you?!" Edwina demanded, trying to hide her feeling of fear. "Why are you after us?!"

"I'll put it this way," the man said. "If there are creators then there are also destroyers."

The sisters looked at each other.

"Looks like we have no other choice," the older said.

She grabbed a metal pole from the ground near her and transmutated it into a sword. Alphonsa got into a battle stance.

"Hmph, you've got guts," Scar said as he stood his ground while the teenagers charged him.

"But…" he readied his hand, building up energy. The girls were practically upon him now, Edwina slashed and Alphonsa punched.

"…You're too slow!"

As the man moved, he rammed his hand onto Alphonsa's armour, before running to a good distance from the two younger alchemists. For a spilt second, the girls and the man stood in silence, glaring - and then it happened.

"Al!" Edwina screamed.

A whole chuck of Alphonsa's armour tore off at the left side, taking the left leg with it and leaving a raged, gapping hole. The girl crashed to the ground on her front, giving a shriek of surprise.

"YOU SON OF A _BITCH!_" Edwina screamed in absolute fury. _No one_ did _anything_ to her little sister and got away with it. Turned on her heel, the girl charged the man again.

"I just told you, you're too slow!" Scar growled, grabbing the girl's right arm, he performed another transmutation, but to his surprise, instead off dismembering the girl's arm, he only sent her flying out of the alley and out onto the street, disarmed.

"Damn it…" the girl hissed, staggering to her feet and casting off her coat and gloves.

"Automail…" Scar said as he looked upon the teenager's metal right arm. "I see. You two can't be destroyed though human destruction." he turned to look at Alphonsa, who was watching helplessly. "That one over there could not be destroyed as she has no body, though I did succeed in tearing apart her armour. You're two strange people. You've wasted enough of my time."

"I'm not going to play by your schedule!" Edwina snapped, then clapped her hands together and transmutated her automail blade. However, instead of it extending past her metal hand like it usually did, she had instead transmutated it to extend past her elbow.

"No, Nee-san! Run away!" Alphonsa cried, now propped up on her elbows and frightened for her older sister.

"As if I'm going to leave you!" the blonde snapped.

"Please!"

"No!"

"So, by putting your hands together, you form a circle and use the cycled energy to transmutate? Well then," Scar said, interrupting the argument. "Then…" he readied his hand.

"RAAAAAAH!" Edwina let out a yell as she charged at the man to slash him.

"The first thing I need to do is have this annoying arm…" as the girl closed in, slashing, he grabbed the extending metal limb in his hand again, then cried, "…_Destroyed!_" he activated his power, sending it down the girl's arm, then threw her backwards. Edwina's eyed widened. Her automail shattered as she fell. Wires, metal and bolts fell from the demolished limb. The only thing left intact was the hand.

"_Nee-san!_" Alphonsa screamed.

Edwina could not believe it. She was defeated. She fell onto her knees, clutching at her empty shoulder port.

"No…" she whispered as the man approached her again. "I don't want to die like this…"

* * *

**Author's Notes: Sorry that you have to wait another long time for a new update, readers. School has being keeping me so busy laterly with studying, work and exams. The Christmas holidays only starts on the twenty-third of December. I may be a long time before another chapter is out, sorry. How rubbish is that? Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

**Leave a review if you want.**

**Thank you ^_^.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

_**After the Rain**_

The Fullmetal Alchemist was barely aware of her surroundings. All she could see was the ground. All she knew was Scar approaching her, Alphonsa was lying on the ground, defenceless, her arm was scrap metal and she was kneeling on the wet ground. She had not noticed that, through the whole pursuit, innocent bystanders and civilians had been pausing for a few moments to watch, but too scared to help, they soon left the scene.

"Nee-san!" Alphonsa cried as the man slowly closed in on her as thunder crashed and lightning light up the grey skies. "_Nee-san!_"

"I will give you time to pray to God, since you are so young," Scar said as he came to a stop in front of the girl.

"Sorry, but I don't have a god to pray to," Edwina responded, then looked up at Scar. "After you've taken out me, my little sister, Al…are you…are you going to kill her too?"

"If there are any obstacles, I will remove from my way, but right now the only who must receive judgement, is you, Fullmetal Alchemist."

"Really? Then promise me you won't lay a finger on Al."

"Nee-san, no! Remember what I told you!" Alphonsa cried. If she were human at the point, tears would be leaking from her eyes.

"You have my word," Scar said.

"Good," Edwina said, then fell silent, waiting and still looking at the ground.

"What are you doing, Nee-san? Run away! Please!" the armour girl pleaded. "Please don't kill her, Mister!" Scar reached out to the unmoving, silent blonde, ready to strike. "Stop! Stop!"

He was so close, centimetres away. "NOOOOOOOOOO!" Alphonsa screamed in absolute hysterics.

A gunshot ran though the air and a voice shouted, "That's as far as you'll go!"

Scar, his hand at the ready, quickly turned around. Alphonsa turned her head and Edwina looked up.

Colonel Mustang, the one who had fired the gun into the air, was standing there, several other armed soldiers and police officers, including Hawkeye and Havoc, and a few Military cars.

"Colonel! This guy, he-" Edwina regaining her speech, only to be interrupted by her superior.

"That was a close one, Fullmetal. Now we know for sure he is the culprit of the serial murder of State Alchemists, due to these circumstances." she looked at the man. "I take it you're behind the murders at the Tucker residence too?

Edwina's eyed widened before becoming angry. _You killed Nina?_

The dark-skinned man turned away from all of the soldiers, the two State Alchemists and Alphonsa before speaking again. "Alchemists twist the natural state of creation into something degenerate…in other words, sacrilege to our divine creator, God. As his massagers, my people and I must deliver God's judgement."

"That's something I don't understand," the female officer stated, her expression one of anger. "There are plenty of alchemists in the world, some bad, and some good. Why are you only going after ones with a National Certificate?"

"It doesn't matter. If you interfere, I'll eliminate _you _as well."

"I see. Interesting…" the raven-haired woman said, then tossed the gun in her hand over her head. "You can have this back, Lieutenant."

"Colonel?" The Lieutenant said, confused, as he caught his extra gun. "Colonel Mustang?"

The Colonel pulled on her gloves. "If you want to take on a State Alchemist, take on me, then. I am Roya Mustang, the Flame Alchemist."

"Ma'am, you can't!" Hawkeye cried.

"Ah, I have heard of you, Flame Alchemist. For you, who has turned away from God to come willingly to receive judgement…" Scar clenched his hands in fists before crying, "_Today is a good day!_"

"Yes, for me!" Mustang cried.

She and Scar charged at each other, the female soldier ready to click her finger and set him ablaze, and the man ready to blow apart the woman.

"No!" the blonde man shouted and also charged forward a silver gun in one hand, and a black one in the other. He moved up beside his superior.

"Lieutenant, what are you doing?" she said.

"I hate having to do this, Ma'am, but..." he shoved the woman as hard as he could, causing her to slam onto the ground with a cry of "Arh!" He then closed in on Scar, and started to fire his mismatched guns, but the man dodged and moved behind a corner.

"What do you think you're doing?" Mustang repeated to the younger soldier as he moved in front of her.

"Colonel, Ma'am, I'm deeply sorry for what I just did, but you and I both know you're useless in the rain."

"'Useless?'" Mustang repeated to herself, looking at the ground, feeling ashamed.

"Yeah, when it's as wet as this, you can't make a spark," Havoc added.

"Hmph. In addition to coming here, you can't use your alchemy? Well this is convenient for me," Scar said, walked back out of his hiding place and face all present, Elric Sisters and Mustang still on the ground. "Sate Alchemists, and also those that are obstacles in my mission, I will eliminate you all!"

"We'll see about that!" cried a booming voice.

Scar leapt backwards as a metal gaunter-clad fist slammed into the wall behind him, sending stone flying.

_Reinforcements! _He angrily thought.

"Hmmm," to be able to dodge my attacks, you must be quite good," the man, the tall, muscular Major Armstrong, boomed. "Oh, you fiend, who commits wrongs against this nation!" Edwina and Havoc, who had walked over to her to help her, exchanged awkward expressions. The Major had a habit of going into speeches while battling. "You say you will eliminate everyone here?" Alphonsa also felt awkward. "Well then, best me in combat!" Hawkeye was simply unimpressed and Mustang was still in her own world, the word useless reverting in her mind. "_I, the _'_Strong-Arm Alchemist_', ALEX LOUIE ARMSTONG!" Armstrong finished his speech, and showed off his metal gauntlets, each with a Transmutation Circle etched into the back of each.

"They keep coming in today one after another," the dark-skinned man said to himself. "This will save me a lot of time!"

"Haha! So you'll not withdraw?" Alex said, tossing a piece of the broken ground into the air. "Very well then, I will respect your courage!" he punched the piece of the stone, and activated the Transmutation Circles on his gauntlets, causing a huge stone-bladed object, which flew towards the man. He sidestepped out of the way just in time for the thing to hit the wall and explode into rubble and dust.

_That was close, _he thought.

"One more shot," Armstrong booming, slamming his fist into the ground again, causing a row of spikes shot towards the man.

_Damn!_ He cried inside his head, turning and running - but the spikes caught up, becoming much larger. Scar was nearly in impaled, one of the pointed stone weapons piercing a hole in the back of his gold jacket.

"Close!" he cried, and swung his arm back, again activating his power and destroying the spikes. "But not close enough."

"What do you say?" Armstrong shouted, enraged.

"Major, please don't destroy the city!" Havoc cried as he lifted Edwina to her feet.

The major punched the air, not hearing him, or just simply ignoring him, and shouted, "Beyond destruction, there is creation, and being creation there is destruction!" the major suddenly ripped off his military jacket, revealing his toned, muscular chest. This was another of his 'battle habits'. "_Create and destroy! This is the law of the universe!_"

Scar just stared, unable to think of anything to say.

"Why did he take his shirt off?" Havoc asked.

"And why is he using such powerful alchemy?" Hawkeye added.

"What? If you two were alchemists, you wouldn't think it was _that_ powerful,"

"He has a point," Edwina said, her voice still low.

Armstrong looked at the dark-skinned man and said, "Isn't that right, Scar?"

"He's an alchemist?" the alchemist Colonel yelled, finally having came out of her world of 'uselessness' into fully focused reality.

"I thought so," the blonde teenager said. "The three major parts of a transmutation are 'knowledge', 'destruction' and 'reconstruction'. That guy is stopping the transmutation from completion by only performing the 'deconstruction', the second part."

"Wait, by being an alchemist too, isn't he defying God just like he said before?" Havoc asked.

"Yes. In addition, the ones he's targeting are always those who have National Licenses. Just what is he?" the Colonel asked.

Scar and the Major were deep in combat once again.

_Hmmm…A large built and light footwork. That doesn't match, _the man said as he moved out of the way of another assault from the State Alchemist. _Super human, destructive strength. _Another attack avoided. _And alchemy. He may be tough to beat, but… _he leapt out of the way of a row of spikes.

"You're cornered!" Armstrong shouted. Scar was instead stuck in a corner - just as he had planned.

_And you are open_,Scar thought as the man draw back for another attack, Scar activated his alchemy, and ducked down just as the Major swing his fist forwards, and he moved his hand to blow him apart - the Major suddenly pulled back.

_He opened a gap…? _Scar asked to himself.

Suddenly he heard gunshots. He dodged, sidestepping and jumping out of the way a barrage of bullets - but was not quite fast enough. He was hit in the head, knocking off his sunglasses and causing him to stagger. Several large drops of blood splashed onto the ground.

"Did you get him?" Mustang asked her subordinate as he lowered his rifle, as she could not quite see what had happened.

"He's fast. I only grazed him," he reported.

Scar regained his balance, and stood up straight, his expression full of fury.

"Red eyes and brown skin?" the Major cried as they looked upon the man's full appearance. "That means…!"

"An Ishvalan!" Mustang finished.

After a few silent moments, the Ishvalan alchemist spoke. "I'm at a disadvantage with so many opponents here."

"Hold it!" the dark-haired woman cried, and the police officer's around her raised their weapons. "You really think you're going to get away when you're surrounded?"

The man slowly raised his hand - and slammed it into the ground. Dust and debris were thrown into the air as a hole consumed the City ground around it, causing everyone present to run for their lives. One officer fell in, but luckily, his friend grabbed him before he could fell to his death. Once the hole had stopped expanding, the Lieutenant, the police officers and several other soldiers looked down into it and saw where it led.

"He went into the sewers!" the sharpshooter cried in anger.

"Don't follow him, anyone," the Flame Alchemist instructed.

"Don't worry," said Havoc. "There's no way I'd follow a guy _that_ dangerous."

The woman turned to Armstrong and said, "Major, thanks for buying some time for us to surround him, but…"

"No, no," the muscled man replied. "I wasn't 'buying time'; I was trying my best not to get killed."

"Hey, is it over?" a voice belonging to the glasses-clad face of Maes Hughes as he peered around a building.

"Lieutenant Colonel, what have you been?"

"Hiding."

Armstrong and Mustang sighed and walked up to him.

"You're supposed to provide back-up!" the Flame Alchemist snapped, angrily jabbing a finger at her best friend.

"As if a normal family man like me is going to get involved in a 'believe it or not' episode with you guys! Besides, I like the First Lieutenant took care of the backup. Speaking of which…" Hughes leaned in close, his voice a whisper. "I've seen how loyal he is to you. He's protective too. He'd be a good out-of-work partner, if you get what I mean. You're going to be thirty this year, same as me, and yet, you're still not-"

"Shut up about that!"

"Fine, don't listen. I'm only trying to be helpful again." The man turned towards the other soldiers and police in the vicinity while the female soldier silently fumed. "There's other stuff to do, so if you're not fighting, I want a rapid deployment of searches within the city!"

"Yes, sir!" one man cried, saluting. He then left.

Glad that her potential murderer was gone, Edwina's worry for her sister overwhelmed her and she rushed over to her.

"Alphonsa!" she cried as she fell to her knees next to the partly destroyed suit of armour whose eyes had lost their light, while everyone else watched. "Alphonsa! Say something!"

"Nee-san…" the younger said, looking up.

"Al…" the Fullmetal Alchemist said with a sigh of relief. "I'm glad you're- ARH!"

Alphonsa raised one of her hands and punched her sister in the face as hard as she could, screaming, "You _idiot!_" She then grabbed the stunned, hurting girl by the front of her top and shook her. "Why didn't you run away when I told you to?"

Edwina was slightly scared. Alphonsa was acting most unlike her normal, calm, pacifistic self. "I-I couldn't just leave you behind," she said nervously.

"THAT'S WHY I CALLED YOU AN IDIOT!"Alphonsa punched her again, sending her down hard onto the wet pavement, and banging her head against it. She sat up, dizzy.

"What is _wrong _with you? If only I got away, you would've been killed and I'd be all alone!" the armour-girl yelled.

"There was a chance I may _not _have been killed! And besides, you wouldn't be along, you'd have Aunty and Winter!" the Fullmetal Alchemist yelled back.

"How could you choose to die when you could keep living?"

"Don't call your big sister an idiot!"

"Don't patronize me!" the younger sister reached out and grabbed the blonde by the front of her top again, and shook her again as she shouted, "I'll say it again and again! You might find a way to restore our bodies if you survive and learn more alchemy! And you might even find a way to save another child like Nina! How could you choose death over that possibility? I won't ever forgive you if you do that!" there was a sudden metallic snapping noise as Alphonsa's remind arm broke off, which further angered the younger Elric. "Ah! Now my arm's came off! You stupid Nee-san!"

_I didn't do anything_, Edwina thought, then sighed. "I'm really sorry, Al. We're all beat up, and it's my fault. There's no way I can suck this much. But, we're alive."

"Yeah…we are…" Alphonsa said, calmed by her sister's apology.

Hawkeye and Havoc walked over to them.

"Edwina-chan, you'll catch a cold if you stay drenched like that," the blonde soldier said, before removing his military jacket (having previously discarded his coat, though he now wished he had not) and draping it to over the girl's shoulders. He wrapped it around her, and pulled her golden-blonde plait outside to hang over the back of it. He helped the girl to her feet and kept his arm around her shoulders.

Havoc heaved Alphonsa's arm over his shoulder and lifted her up, saying, "So this suit of armour is your little sister, Fullmetal Alchemist? I've never heard of Soul Transmutation before. Couldn't you have picked of something a bit less…strange?"

"That was the closest thing to me at the time!" the blonde girl snapped back at him as she walked.

"The bond between those two sisters is strong. It's most likely Fullmetal was willing to throw her life away to transmutate her sister," the Colonel told the Strong-Arm Alchemist and Hughes.

"We can't let this matter settle down just yet," the Lieutenant Colonel told them. "They're still the target of a dangerous killer."

"An Ishvalan…I guess things are going to get rougher," the woman said, before turned to everyone and ordering, "Everyone, please return to your posts, expect all those who are my subordinates and the Major. You proceed to my office."

Hawkeye reminded holding the older Elric until they had reached the headquarters. Once there, Alphonsa's armour was bandaged up and Edwina was cleaned up, before they all took a seat in the Colonel's office along with Breda and Falman.

"Ishvalans were a race of people who lived in the East Area, who worshiped a god named Ishvala whom they believe created everything," the older alchemist explained to the two teenagers. Everyone else knew full well what she was talking about. "Unlike most Amestrians, who are fair or light skinned, Ishvalans have dark skin, as they live near the desert. They're characterised by their white hair and red eyes, as you would have noticed. Due to religious beliefs, Ishval and the rest of Amestris had many repeated conflicts. Thirteen years ago, a State Military soldier accidentally shot and killed an Ishvalan child and full scale civil war erupted."

_That poor child…_ Alphonsa thought. _Why is it always the innocents who suffer…?_

"Riot brought about riot and before anyone knew it, the rebellion had spread throughout the whole of the East Area." More images of gunfire, people running in terror and bloodshed filled the female soldier's mind and she wished for it to stop. "After seven years of warfare, the Führer gave out 'Order 330'. This was that all State Alchemists were to be deployed in Ishval as human weapons in what was truthfully the annihilation of the Ishval race." Mustang could see her younger, major-ranked self, standing and looking down on a group of Ishvalans with Armstrong and another State Alchemist next to her. "The intent was probably to test out their practical skills and usage on the battlefield. Many were sent in. I was one of them. That is why that man, a survivor of the war, is justified in wanting vengeance."

"That's bullshit," Edwina said. "There's no justification and crap like that in getting vengeance on innocent people. He is masking his craving for vengeance acting like a 'messenger of God'."

"I just don't get why he would the very alchemy he despises to exact his revenge. Though, those who don't care about how they get things done are the most dangerous of all…and the most frightening," Hughes said.

"We also cannot worry about how we get things done. We cannot die yet," the raven-haired woman responded. "Next time we met him, there will no talk. We'll take him out."

"Anyway, enough of this boring topic," Hughes said, then got to his feet, walked over to and faced the Elric sisters. "So, what are you two going to do now?"

"Well, I want to fix Al's armour, but I can't use the technique with just one arm," the Fullmetal Alchemist answered.

"Shall I fix you, Alphonsa Elric?" Alex asked in his loud voice, his jacket once again discarded as he flexed his muscles

"I-I'll pass," the younger Elric replied.

"I'm the only one who knows how Al's soul is bound to the armour, so I need to fix my arm first," Edwina continued as she held her right shoulder.

"Since Edwina-chan can't use alchemy, that mean she's-"

"Just another PMS-ing teen with a rotten tongue," Havoc finished before Hawkeye. The First Lieutenant nodded in agreement

"SHUT UP!" Edwina sprang to her feet and shrieked. "Al, back me up!"

"Sorry, Nee-san," Alphonsa said with a chuckle. "I'm not saying anything."

"You're nothing but a bratty midget without your alchemy, Edwina-chan," Hughes teased.

"Worthless! Worthless!" Mustang taunted.

"SHUT UP OR I'M GOING TO START BREAKING THINGS, AND THOSE THINGS INCLUDE YOU LOT!" The girl screamed. Everyone quieted down, having had and enjoyed their fun.

"It looks like I have no choice," the Fullmetal Alchemist sighed. "I'll have to see to my mechanic."

* * *

**Author's Note: First swearword of the series. Hope you enjoy it, readers (the chapter, that is) ^_^. This is also the first chapter with no 'time breaks', if you get what I mean. It is also the shortest so far. I am still busy, so this one took so long. Oh and, I know ths is a little early, but HAPPY NEW YEAR!**

**Leave a review if you want.**

**Thank you ^_^**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

_**A Hopeful Road**_

The Elrics, Roya, her men and Hughes were now the only ones remaining in the office.

"Now, Fullmetal, in order for you to travel back to Rizenbul, you need an escort," the Colonel explained to her youngest subordinate. "However, I can't leave HQ."

_And I'm supposed to be disappointed, how? Plus, I don't need an escort. _The younger State Alchemist thought.

"I can't go either, as watching over the Colonel is hectic," the blonde First Lieutenant said. _Because if I'm not there, she'll ditch her work._

"I've got tons of work to do, so I need to return to Central," stated Hughes.

"I have zero confidence in protecting you when things are this dangerous," Havoc said with a fresh cigarette in his mouth.

"What he said," Falman, Breda, and Fuery said in unison, unable to think of an excuse of their own.

"Well, it seems none of us can escort you," the Colonel said. "Though, there is one person left who can do the job…"

"Who?" the girl asked.

The door to the room opened again and a bellow of "Edwina Elric!" was heard.

The young alchemist turned to the source of the voice and suddenly found herself in a bone-crushingly tight embrace that squeezed all the air out of her lungs. Everyone else just stood there.

"I've heard so much about you, Edwina Elric! I don't get to speak to you last time!" Major Armstrong shouted with tears in his eyes and Edwina yelled and struggling to get free. "Oh, the pure love that drove you to try to bring back your mother!" the tears increased. "And the love that made you willing to throw away your life to transmute your sister! I am moved!" he let go of the girl, who after catching her breathe, rounded on her superior officer.

"You've got a big mouth, Colonel! So much for keeping what I did a secret," the girl hissed.

"Well, when I was approached by someone _this_ annoying, I had no choice but to talk about your past.

"And that is why I shall take the responsibility of being your escort until we met your prosthesis specialist," the Major proclaimed as he dabbed his eyes with a handkerchief.

"But I don't need an escort! I'm not some defenceless damsel!" the older Elric yelled.

"Edwina-chan," Rizo spoke in his usual serious voice, catching the girl's attention. "Are you saying you're going to leave here on your own, in that condition, and risk being attacked by Scar again? Wouldn't it make sense to be escorted by someone who can stand up to him?"

"And you can't carry Alphonsa, can you?" Havoc rhetorically asked.

"Well…um…" the blonde had to think for moment. "I would be fine with it if it was anyone other than the Major!"

"As we have all said, none of us can do it, as we are busy," the onyx-eyed woman reminded her.

"Then it's settled!" the Strong-Arm Alchemist declared.

"No!" the fifteen-year-old female cried and spun around to face Alphonsa. "Al, say something!"

The younger Elric was looking at the Major with an air of admiration, her hands clasped.

"This is the first time I've being treated like a kid since becoming a suit of armour!" the girl squeaked with happiness.

"Arh, this is hopeless!" the young State Alchemist cried.

"If you still insist on being irresponsible, I'll court-martial you for disobeying orders, Fullmetal."

"That's black mail and dirty play!"

"Well then, let us pack without delay!" Armstrong said.

* * *

The Elrics and Major Armstrong had arrived at the train station about twenty minutes ago, Edwina still not happy. Alphonsa's happy mood also disappeared when she saw what was going to happen to her on the train. She was sitting in a topless wooden crate with two plank of wood going across the top to keep her in place.

"We will have cheaper travel fee if she is treated like luggage," the nearly bald State Alchemist explained to the female State Alchemist.

_This is the first time I have been treated like luggage since becoming a suit of armour… _the fourteen-year-old sadly thought.

"Edwina Elric, bring what you need quickly.

"Stop treating me like a kid!" the girl shouted.

About half an hour later, the train arrived. The Fullmetal Alchemist remained silently angry they settled aboard the train, squashed into a corner against the window by the impossibly tall State Alchemist. She was once again wearing her complete main outfit, the black jacket and red coat both with the right sleeve noticeably empty. Alphonsa, being 'luggage', was elsewhere.

_Why did they choose this guy? _Edwina thought, as she moved her eyes to look at the Major, who sat with his arms folded. The golden-eyed girl could not but noticed the curious shares they were receiving from other passengers. Armstrong was no longer in uniform, instead dressed in a white dress shirt, black tie, brown waistcoat and black trousers and shoes with a matching black coat. Edwina was amazed he could find clothing to fit his tall, muscular frame.

There was a sudden knocking on the window and the girl and man looked at to see Hughes.

"Lieutenant Colonel Hughes?" the girl said.

"Hey," he replied, raising a hand in greeting.

"What are you doing here?"

"The other guys at HQ were to busy to come, so they sent me instead. I've got a message from Roya."

"The Colonel?"

"Yes. She says 'Post processing is a pain so I prohibit you from dieing within my jurisdiction.'"

"Well, you can tell her, 'Rodger that. I wouldn't dream of dieing before you, I would be smiling at your funeral. Oh, not forgetting you're a slut, Colonel Bitch.'"

The glasses-wearing soldier burst into laughter, saying, "My, brats and, much as I hate to say it, bitches, are a plenty in this world! You and Roya ought to have long lines."

"Shut up!"

"Winding you up is hilarious, but I'll stop for today." the man took a step back and saluted with a smile. "See you later and stay safe on your journey. If you pop into Central, give a shout."

"Ok."

The two alchemists give their own salute, the golden-eyed one saying apologetically, "Sorry about having to use my left hand."

The train sprang to life and chugged away a few minutes later, and soon was going through the rolling countryside.

"This will be the first I have met an automail mechanic," Armstrong said to his charge, breaking their long silence. "I am intrigued."

"Well, he's more of a surgeon, a prosthesis hairdresser if you like, and an automail tuner. He's a long-time friend, so he'll do a cheap and good job."

"What sort of a place is this Rizenbul?"

The short female smiled. "Oh, it's an amazing village, even though there isn't anything interesting to see." her smiled faded and she lay her head in her palm and started out of the window. "Because of the East Area War, interesting things just don't happen anymore. It's really quiet." she smiled again. "But despite this, it has a lot of things a city doesn't. Yup, that's our Rizenbul." She turned her head, suddenly remembering something she had being meaning to ask since they had boarded the train. "You really _did_ put Al on the train, didn't you, Major?"

The nearly bald man laughed and responded, "Yes, no need to worry. She is here."

Alphonsa was in the livestock car. The younger Elric was surrounded by a mass of wool and noise.

"Baa! Baa! Baaaaa!" went the all the sleep at once.

_It's so noisy_!The girl thought to herself. _I wish they would be quiet and I was with Nee-san and the Major…_

"I thought she would be lonely by herself," the Major said.

"What the _hell_ doyou take my little sister for?" Edwina shouted, not caring that it turned a few heads.

"What are you not happy?" the man asked. "It's cheap, spacious and lively. Does she not have everything she needs?

"Could you get any more wrong?"

After they finished their argument, Edwina decided to take a nap.

A few hours later, the train stopped at one of the stations along the route to Rizenbul, when was the countryside. The Fullmetal Alchemist was abruptly roused from slumber when Armstrong stood up and looked out the window, squashing her up against it.

"Hey!" the girl cried in a muffed voice.

"Doctor Marcoh!" Armstrong shouted to a man seeming to be in his mid fifties, due to his wrinkled face and hair that was grey at the sides and black on the top as he walked along platform, a suitcase in hand. "It is I, Alex Louse Armstrong, from Central!"

The man gave a nervous look at Armstrong, as if remembering something bad - and suddenly started to run. He was gone within minutes.

"Oh…" the major said, a little surprised.

"Do you know him?" the female alchemist asked, once she was free, her feeling of annoyance replaced with curiosity.

"He is a very capable, talented alchemist from an alchemic reach agency of Central. He took part in research into using alchemy for medical uses, but after the Civil War, he disappeared. This is first time I have seen him since then."

The blonde suddenly had a thought. Standing up, she said, "Let's stop here."

"Oh?" Armstrong said as he too got to his feet and followed the now walking teenager, whose empty coat sleeve flapped against her body as she moved. "Were we not supposed to get off at Rizenbul?"

"If that guy researched what you did he did, then he could know something about Biochemical Transmutation!"

Once off the train, Edwina turned to the conductor and said, "Sorry we're getting off here." She handed him the money she owed for the cut-short journey and then asked, "Could you get someone to my younger sister, Al, and the luggage?"

"Younger sister?" the man said. All he had seen been placed into the livestock car was a suit broken suit of armour.

"You wouldn't understand if I told you. Now hurry up!" the girl demanded.

_So rude. Some kids these days, they have no respect,_ the conductor thought, but in spite of this, he instructed other member of staff to collect the luggage for one "Miss Edwina Elric".

"Al, you stink of sleep!" the older Elric remarked once Alphonsa's box was on the ground.

"Well, I didn't want to be in there in the first place!" the armour girl snapped.

"Well I didn't choose that to happen!" the older girl retorted.

"Alphonsa Elric," Armstrong boomed, cutting across the arguing sisters. "I am sorry if being in that placed it that car offended you."

The girls were slightly taken aback.

"Well, thank you," the armour girl eventually said.

None of the trio noticed a certain woman with curly black hair and a coat with a fur-trimmed hood observing them, and had been since they had boarded the train. After placing Alphonsa in a safe place, with the blonde and bald alchemists began asking around about this 'Doctor Marcoh'.

"Excuse me," Edwina said to a passing wife and husband. "Did you see a man running past here, earlier?"

"He was an elderly gentleman, and looked like this," Armstrong said, holding up a notepad in which he had drawn a rather impressive and detailed picture of the doctor.

"Wow, Major, you're really good at drawing," the blonde girl said.

"This artistry has been passed down the Armstrong family for generations!" the older State Alchemist proclaimed. Just as the girl was about to reply, the woman who was looking at the picture spoke, "Oh, we know this man, he's Dr. Mauro."

"'Dr. Mauro'?" the Major repeated. _A fake name?_ _Why?_

"Yes. As you may have noticed, everyone's poor in this town. We afford to pay for doctors, but he said he didn't care about that."

"He's a good man. He won't abandon you, and even would check up on a patient everyone else thinks is as good as dead," said another, glasses-clad man, joined the other two residents along with others, who came to tell the newcomers of how good this man was.

"When I got my leg chopped up in a tractor accident and it looked like it was going to be amputated, he fixed it up good as new!" said a burly, bearded man.

"And when he was healing, there was a bright flash and when it dyed down, the leg was completely healed, not even a scar on him," added a pony-tailed woman, presumably a relation of the burly man.

"Flash?" Edwina repeat.

"Mostly likely alchemy," Armstrong informed her.

"Hmmm…"

The two went back and collected Alphonsa. The major carried her crate over one shoulder with very little effort.

"So, the doctor ran away, took a false name, and hid in this village…but why?" the older Elric pondered.

"When the doctor disappeared, so did some classified documents. Rumour is that he stole them," the Strong-Arm Alchemist explained as they made their way to Marcoh's house, as a helpful woman had told them the way. "He may have thought we were members of his agency."

They reached the house, the front door of which was up a flight of stone stairs. Edwina knocked the door - and it opened all on its own.

"Hello…?" she called into the dark house as she peered into it.

_Ka-click!_

The girl's eyes widened before she screamed (along with Alphonsa, out of fright) and jumped aside, causing the bullet to just miss her and bounce onto off the ground.

"Why did you come here? What did you come here for? Are you here to take me back?" the man cried, he hands shaking slightly as he held the pistol he had aimed at them.

"Doctor, calm down," Armstrong said as he raised his free left hand. Edwina just stood there, trying to return her racing heart to its normal pace.

"Please just leave me alone!" the doctor begged.

"No, that is not true," the major said. "Just calm down and listen to what I have to say.

"Then are you here to silence me by killing me?"

"Please just put down the gu-"

"I won't be fooled!"

"JUST CALM DOWN!"

The tall alchemist threw Alphonsa's crate at Marcoh frustration, causing them both to go "Wah!" in surprise and Edwina to jump.

"Well _that_ was calm,"she sarcastically told the major. "And Al better be ok."

* * *

Things had settled down. After taking Alphonsa's crate off Marcoh, Armstrong had managed to convince him to allow him as his group to enter his house to talk to him. They now sat at his table in the centre of a room, Alphonsa in her crate next to her sister. The room was small, and had medical supplies and interments on a counter, a desk in one corner, a shelf full of books and jars, and various other things. The discarded gun was lying on a cabinet.

"I couldn't bear to do it, even though it was an order from the higher-ups, I just couldn't bear to dirty my hands on it…" the doctor explained in response to a question the Strong-Arm Alchemist had just asked. "Then, it was used as a weapon in the Civil War in the East area. It was such a horrific battle. So many - no - too many innocent bystanders lost their lives."

As Armstrong, Edwina and Alphonsa listened the doctor's sombre words, the tragedy of the incident being explained washed over them all, filling them with sorrow.

"What I have done cannot be atoned for with only my death. Even so, I am acting as a doctor here for as long as I can."

"What _did_ you research?" Armstrong asked. "And what did you take with you when you ran away?"

Marcoh raised a hand to his forehead, looking as if he was about to cry. "I made…the Philosopher's Stone." The older female alchemist's eyes widened and the armour girl and the male alchemist gasped.

"To answer your second question, it was the Stone and some research papers were what I took."

"You have a stone?" the Fullmetal Alchemist cried. _My search, it could be over_!

"Yes," Marcoh said, then moved over to a chest of drawers, opened the topmost one and took something out. He sat back down at the table and held up the item for the other three to see. "This is it".

The man was holding a very small, cylindrical bottle with a cork sealing it shut. Inside the bottle was a red liquid.

"The stone is a solid," the blonde girl stated as she looked at the bottle in a confused manner. "Isn't that liquid?"

The doctor poured the 'liquid' onto the table - where it formed into a circular solid. Edwina and Armstrong leaned forward to examine the object.

"Huh?" the girls and Armstrong said in unison.

"'The Philosopher's Stone', 'The Celestial Stone', 'The Great Elixir', 'The Red Tincture', 'The Fifth Element'," Marcoh, watching at the blonde girl prodded the stone a few time with her single hand and the moustached man rub his chin. "Just as the Philosopher's Stone's have several names, their form is not limited to just the form of an actual stone," the former State Alchemist explained.

Much to the disappointment of the visitors, Marcoh guided the stone back into the bottle.

"However, they reminded experimental until the end. And yet, they were used secretly during the Ishval Civil War, and in doing so, they overwhelming power was demonstrated," he explained.

_So they were imperfect, just like the one that crazy priest had_,the older Elric thought, before a smile spread on her face. _Even though you say they're an imperfect creation, if further research was done, we could make a perfect one_!

The blonde teenager placed her hand on her the table, stood up and enthusiastically asked, "Dr. Marcoh, could you show me the research files you took?"

"What?" the black-and-grey haired man said in surprise at the sudden request. He turned to Armstrong. "Major, who is this girl?"

"A State Alchemist."

The doctor looks as he were to cry again. "And now even the children…even young girls like you…you were probably lured in by its privileges, such as to obtain massive research funding. You're a fool, girl! After the Civil War, do you know how many Stat Alchemists there were who couldn't bear being human weapons any more and revoked their licences? And yet, you still…"

The Fullmetal Alchemist's left hand balled into a fist on her lap. "I know it was a stupid reason! But…" she raised her hand to her empty shoulder port. "Until I accomplish my goal, I'll continue to lie on that bed of thorns!"

"I see." He turned to the armour girl. "And what about you, young lady, are you a part of the military too? Were you recruited for your unique condition?"

"Me?" Alphonsa said. "N-no. Wait, how do you know about my secret?"

"A doctor knows."

"I'll explain why, if you promise to keep it yourself," the older Elric said. It seemed the sisters' secret was becoming less and counselled, as she had to inform more and more people to obtain the information she required. Therefore, again, Alphonsa watched nervously as Edwina explained about them.

"So, you ignored the ban? Well, I must admit I'm surprised. I didn't believe it was possible to transmute the soul of a person into an animate object. You might just be able to create a perfect Philosopher's Stone.

"Then, you'll…?" Edwina responded with an excited smile.

"I cannot show the documents!" the man said sternly.

The smile faded. "What…? No way!"

"This is the end of the discussion. I cannot let you have the stone for something as minor as restoring your bodies!"

"_Minor_?" the older girl stood as she shouted.

"Doctor, that just isn't fair," the Strong-Arm alchemist added.

Marcoh got and walked away from the table, his back to his visitors. "It would be better if you didn't see it, as it's the research of the Devil. Once you have learned it, you will see the very face of Hell."

"I've already seen Hell!" Edwina shouted.

There was a moment of silence, then Marcoh spoke just once more. "I can't let you see it. Please, go home."

The Fullmetal Alchemist sighed. "We'll go."

Only a few minutes later, Marcoh watched from his window as the two girls and the man walked down the stairs leading to the house. The older female's cry of "I've already seen Hell!" was haunting him.

Meanwhile, Edwina, Alphonsa and Armstrong had returned to the train station, the State Alchemists seated on a bench.

"Is this really ok with you?" the near-bald man asked the girl.

"While you weren't able to see the files, you could have taken the stone by force."

"Hell I could! I really, really wanted it!" the teenager said in a moody tone, and after another temperamental moment, she sighed, and turned her eyes to the sky. "I didn't take it because I thought of the people who told us about all the good things the doctor did. Even if we did regain our bodies by robbing this town of its life support, it would leave a nasty aftermath. We'll look for a different way." She turned to the armour in the crate. "Right?"

"Yup," Alphonsa said.

"Oh yeah," the older female turned back to the man next to her. "Major, are you fine with this too? You won't report Dr. Marcoh or anything?"

"Today. I only met a local town doctor called Mauro.

The blonde State Alchemist smiled, but her face still displayed disappointment. "Looks like we'll have to start from scratch. Man, this road is long."

"Hey!"

The trio turned their heads in the direction of the shout, the entrance of the station. Dr Marcoh walked up them.

"I've had a good think about it, and…" the former State Alchemist held out an envelope, which Edwina confusedly took. "This is where the research files are hidden. If you won't regret regretting the truth, then open and read it. Maybe you'll uncover the truth behind the truth."

The Fullmetal alchemist nodded and said, "Thank you."

"I've said too much," the doctor stated, shaking his head.

Edwina bowed and the Strong Arm alchemist saluted him in respect.

As he walked away from the three, Marcoh called, "I pray that you two restore your bodies, girls."

The group switched their attention to the letter.

Marcoh returned to his home. As he closed the door on the outside world - a low woman's voice spoke. "It's been a while, Marcoh."

The almost-old man spun around. Sitting in a chair next to the table was a dark-haired woman in a black dress with black shoes, tights, and long black gloves, with a coat with a fur-trimmed coat.

"I've gotten quite an unexpected result from watching that Fullmetal girl," Lust continued.

"W-what are you doing here?" Marcoh questioned, intimidated.

"Don't worry. I'm not here to take you back," the woman replied, raising a hand. "Your assistants are doing a great job continuing where you left off, even without you there."

"Wha…? Wait…you are…you are still making those things?"

"Oh my, how awful it is for you to forget that the ones who gave you the know-how to make a Philosopher's Stone was us. Even without you and the files, the research hasn't stopped."

"No…"

"The matter of the research files you took however…it wouldn't be so bas if an ordinary person were to find then, but it _would _be bad if a practitioner as good as that girl were to take a look at them…you ran away from a laboratory when you had in inkling of knowledge, isn't that right?"

"So that's how it was," Marcoh's expression took on a fiercer look. As he spoke, he inched his hand towards the pistol on the set of drawers. "I had prayed I was wrong, that it was a nightmare…you filthy demons!" He grabbed a hold of the gun, and before he could fully grasp it to fire, he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. "Aaarrhh!"

"Don't try anything," the female Homunculus said, moving closer to the man and twisting the sharp, extended fingernail she had pierced through his shoulder, causing the doctor to yell in pain.

"You told that girl the location of the research files, didn't you?" Lust said with her face inches from the male's.

"What are you- gah!" Marcoh yelped again as Lust gave another twist, pulling at the muscles while blood spattered. It red fluid to dribble down his arm.

"Don't play dumb," she said. "I'm busy; I don't have for useless chatter."

"That girl…" Marcoh said through gritted teeth. "She's a bright young woman…when she sees those files…one day, she will find out the truth…_and what you are trying to do_!"

"And am I going to let that happen?"

"'Am I going to let happen?'" Marcoh repeated, glad that Lust could not see him using his blood to draw a Transmutation Circle. He gave a laugh before saying. "You won't be able to do anything!"

"And why's that, hm?"

"Because…_you are going to _DIE!"

With that, the old alchemist activated the circle, which cracked with energy, and send a wall-made spike through the stomach of the dark-haired woman, impaling her. Blood trickled down out one side of her mouth.

"You let your guard down!" Marcoh said with a smile, thinking he was free, as all he has to do now was to remove the woman's fingernail from his shoulder. Lust staggered back, bent double and Marcoh expected her to fall lifelessly to the floor at any moment - but she did the opposite. Straightening up, she laughed.

"I just died, didn't I?" she said.

The former State Alchemist's feelings of victory turned to shock and disbelief. The woman lengthened two fingernails on her other hand, she sliced the spike in half as if it were butter, then proceeded to pull the remind part of it out of her stomach, tossing to the floor. Marcoh was even more shocked when the gapping hole in the woman's body was filled with regenerated flesh, which did so with a crackling of red enemy, identical to that of alchemy. Even her dress repaired, but not her coat.

"I've forgotten that you're an alchemist's worthy of becoming a 'sacrifice'," Lust stated with a smirk.

Marcoh regained his voice after the surprise. "That's not possible!"

"What are going to do now, then?"

At that moment, there was the sound of small running feet coming to the door.

"Doctor!" a little girl's voice called as its owner opened the door.

"Kiri, don't come in!" the doctor shouted.

"But, I brought flowers…what?"

The girl barely had time to take in the scene in front of her before she yelped as Lust turned around, and using the same two nails she had used to cut the spike, pinned the child to the door, the nails on either side of her neck.

"Kiri!" Marcoh shouted. Still pinned to the wall by the nail through his shoulder, he could do nothing.

"Now then, be a good girl and don't talk," Lust instructed the terrified Kiri. "Marcoh, do you know what will happen if I twist my hand a little?"

"Don't hurt her, she has nothing to do with this!" the man begged.

"Wrong answer," the woman replied. "Say it."

The almost-elderly man understood to what she was referring. "The place I told the girl…where the files were hidden…

"Yes?"

"It's…"

* * *

"'The National Central Library, First Branch', '-Tim Marcoh'," Edwina read the note aloud to Alphonsa and Armstrong.

"So he 'hid a tree in a forest'," the Strong Arm Alchemist said. "The amount within that library's stock is staggering."

"There's a clue about the stone there!" the older female alchemist said gleefully.

"Oh, Nee-san, this road isn't a dead end!" Alphonse cheered.

"Yeah!"

* * *

Marcoh was on his knees, holding a sobbing Kiri in a comforting embrace.

"Keeping it at the National Central Library. Not too shabby. And here I thought you took them with you when you ran away," the female Homunculus said as she adjusted her hair.

"What on earth are you people?" Marcoh asked. "What do you mean by 'sacrifices'?"

"You'll find out soon enough," the woman replied. "Until then, I'll let you live. However…" she opened the door. "If you to ran away, or interfere with our work, or do anything else like that…" she stepped outside. "_I'll erase this town off the map._"

As she walked down the stairs, she thought had left a good enough threat and impression.

"Now," the Fullmetal girl isn't going to like this but…I wonder if she'll let me go ahead and dispose of the files.

On board the train, Edwina smiled to herself, looking forward to another new lead. Firstly, however, she had that maintenance after which to seek.

* * *

**Author's Notes: My dear readers, I am SO sorry that I have not updated in about four months. I have been and will be busy with exams, studying for exams, and doing exams.**  
**I do not hope you do not think I have abandoned you or this fanfiction. I have not. The next update may take a while too.**  
**Again, I am sorry. Please forgive me.**

**Leave a review if you want.**

**Thank you.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**A Home with a Family Waiting**

It had been another busy day for Pinako Rockbell. However, she was finally working on her last patient, and he was a simple one.

"All set," the old woman said as she adjusted the final leather strap on her patient's wooden leg.

"This feels good," the man said, flexing the limb. "I'd expect as much from you, Dr. Pinako."

Pinako was a very small woman, little taller than an average five-year-old child. She had grey hair, almost completely devoid of its original dark pink colour, which pulled back in a ponytail so straight and stiff that it did not even hang down like a normal one. Finally, she wore small pince-nez, which had no handles, a simple, long-sleeved black dress, her work apron and slip-on sandals.

"So, how about it? You want to move onto automail?" the woman asked.

The man gave a chuckle as he rolled his trouser leg back down and pulled on his coat. "You _are_ joking, right?" He put on his fedora hat. "It might be handy, but isn't the post-surgery pain and rehabilitation process long and difficult?"

"You're pretty scared for someone your age," Pinako stated. "I know a brat who got a right arm and left leg of automail, and she got through the rehabilitation in just one year."

"Sorry, but I don't have that kind of courage. Goodbye."

He left.

Pinako walked down the stairs leading the elevated house and light up her smoking pipe. Suddenly, Den stood up and began to bark.

"What is it, Den?" the automail engineer asked her pet. The female canine had spotted someone familiar heading in their direction.

"Oh, they've come back," Pinako said. She turned back to the house and called, "Winter! We've got some guests of honour!"

In his room, a hard-working Winter looked up at the sound of his grandmother's voice. He put down his tools, and adjusted his dark green bandana, which held his light blonde hair back out of his cerulean eyes. He stood up and became to search for a certain tool.

Over the years, Winter had allowed his short hair to grow a little. It now had a fringe that slanted to the left and some hair hanging to down his chin in front of his ears while the rest was still short. His body was toned, but not muscular, from his work with machinery. Much to the annoyance of her, he was a nearly a whole head taller than Edwina. Even though it could be dangerous given the wrong situation, the boy worn two small, silver hoops in one ear, on at the bottom.

_They're finally back? _The boy thought. _That's good,_ _but I told her to call before coming back!_

Back outside, Pinako was observing their 'humoured guests', which were none other the Elrics (along with Armstrong) while Den tried to lick Edwina's face in greeting. "Hm, aren't you lively?"

"Hey," the older Elric said. "We need your help again, Aunty Pinako."

"I can see that. You two look a right mess. Al in particular."

The armour girl gave a nervous laugh from her position in the crate carried by the male State Alchemist.

"Oh, this is Major Armstrong," Edwina introduced her escort.

"Pleased to meet you, Pinako Rockbell," Armstrong said, shaking the old woman's hand, almost lifting her off the ground. She turned back to Edwina. "You've stunk, Ed."

The girl exploded into another rant. "YOU'RE ONE TO TALK, MINI-HAG!"

"OH YEAH, ULTRA SQUIRT?" Pinako yelled back.

"MIDGET HAG!"

"MIRCO SQUIRT!"

"FLEA-SIZED HAG!"

Winter sighed as he padded out onto his balcony. He unzipped the top half of his mechanic jumpsuit, and tied it around his waist, securing the sleeves in a knot at the front and exposing the sleeveless black tank top he wore underneath. He had also rolled up the trouser legs to free his ankles, which allowed him more freedom to move. Along with the light-tan coloured jumpsuit, he wore brown, slip-on sandal-slippers on his feet.

"I told her to call before she drops by, but nooo, she can't do that, can she?" he said to himself as he came to a stop. "Hey, Ed!"

Before she could react to the call, a large, silver adjustable spanner came flying and spinning and smacked her on the back of her head. The girl gave a yelp of pain and fall to the ground with a thud.

"Didn't I tell you to call at least once before you show up for maintenance?" Winter shouted at the older of his two best friends

After a few dazed, painful moments, the Fullmetal Alchemist rose into a sitting position, rubbing the developing lump on her head.

"What the hell, Winter, you arsehole! What have I told you about hitting girls? You don't do that! Especially one who's your friend!"

"And I told you that if you break my automail, I make an exception as I work so hard to make it!" the boy replied, then suddenly gave a laugh. His anger had faded, as he had channelled it into the thrown spanner. "Welcome home!"

"Yeah…" the female State Alchemist responded. She sometimes wondered if Winter a spilt personally, due to how quickly his mood would change.

A little later, everyone had settled in the house.

Winter's jaw was hanging open. He could not believe what he was seeing and holding. His fine automail was nothing but a pile of metal splinters, wires, and bolts. "What…the…_hell?_"

"Sorry about it getting all busted up," Edwina said, then took a gulp from the mug of tea that Pinako had provided her.

"'Busted up'?" Winter said, rounding on the girl. "Just _how_ were you using that first-class automail, that I'd so pain-stalking made, to get it in this state?"

The alchemist laughed. "Yeah, smashed into tiny pieces."

Winter clenched his teeth, his fists shaking with anger, resisting the urge to throw something else. After it had passed, he looked to Alphonsa and asked, "So, why is Al broke too? What have you guys being doing?"

"Um…" Alphonsa mentally scrambled for an excuse.

"Can't say," Edwina responded.

The young mechanic sighed again. "Don't you two realise how much you make me worry? You need to be more careful!"

"You sexist!" the older Elric snapped. "You think because we're girls we can't keep ourselves safe?"

"I didn't say that at all!" the boy's face of full of genuine worry and upset, and the blonde girl just did not seem to notice. "You two are clearly getting yourselves in danger if you're coming back like this!"

Another argument ensued.

"Oh those two…" Alphonsa said to herself.

Later on, after the argument had stopped, Winter and Pinako started their work on Edwina. As was her custom when she receiving new automail, Edwina had changed into a thin-strapped top and shorts for easier access to the limbs. She was also wearing her hair in a rarely seen ponytail. Winter had donned his brown work gloves.

"So, you want to go to Central as soon as possible to get the file on the Philosopher's Stone?" Pinako asked as she examined the teenager's automail leg and compared it to her flesh one.

"Yeah, I want this done pronto," the Fullmetal Alchemist replied.

"Well, it's not only a new arm you'll need," the old mechanic said. "You're leg's going to need some adjusting."

"Well. Looks like you've grown a little taller," Winter said with a smirk. "Last time you were only-"

"Don't say it!" the alchemist cried. "I grew, so that's what counts!"

The boy ignored her, and eyed a certain part of her upper body. "Shame that's the only part of you that's grown."

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO FLAT-CHESTED SHE'LL NEVER GET A BOY TO BUY HER DINNER?" the girl screamed at him, this time unable to suppress the anger.

Pinako ignored the two and finished her examination.

"The leg's fine to change, since we still have the base, but we'll have to start from scratch for the arm," the bespectacled woman explained.

"But that'll take at least a week," the younger female said.

The old woman moved away from the boy and the girl to take her pipe and light it. "Don't underestimate me, Ed. It'll be three days. Until then…" Pinako placed her pipe down and walked back over to her patient, carefully unscrewed the automail leg, and handed to Winter who hauled it over his shoulder. She then attached another, rather lesser quality one in its stead. "You'll have to wear this spare one for that time."

The older Elric flexed the limb, then cautiously stood up and wobbled as she tried to take a step forward. "It's hard to walk using a leg I'm not used to."

The younger Rockbell was not listening. "After carving, there's assembling, adjusting, connecting and finishing," he mattered to himself, counting the processes off on his free hand. "Ack, this is going to take all night."

"Sorry for making you do so much," Edwina apologised genuinely.

"Ah, it's OK," Winter replied. "You want to get to Central as soon as possible, right? So shouldn't I do as much as I can?"

"Well yeah, but-"

"Besides, you'll be given me oodles of money in exchange for the extra work!" As the blonde boy said this, he meant to punch the alchemist's shoulder playfully - but instead ended up knocking her onto the floor.

"Oh, sorry," he immediately said after realising this. "Guess I don't know my own strength. And you're not used to that leg."

Edwina refrained from another shout of anger.

Later that day, after becoming more used to the spare leg, Edwina sat outside with Den and Alphonsa (who was glad to be out of her crate) even though in her current state she could not move on her own.

"What is with that blood-thirsty lady?" the older Elric said unexpectedly.

"You're asking that now?" the armour girl said.

The blonde girl sighed and lay back on the grass, her hands behind her head. "Never mind. Three days huh? What am I going to do? When we have nothing to do, we really are on a break. And there aren't any libraries here."

"But isn't it nice to have the occasional break when we haven't had it very easy for a while?" the young girl asked.

"I don't work well with breaks!"

"Sure you don't…Well, if you have that much free time, why don't you visit Mum's grave? You could put some flowers on it."

"But we can't go with the way you are now."

"It's OK. Much as I'd like to go, I don't want the Major to have to carry me, so I'll stay here." Den, who had previously being lying on a position mimicking that of Edwina, now moved and rested her head on the girl's stomach, her eyes closed. "Once you have your automail, we'll be heading off to Central right away won't we?"

"Fine…I'll go for a bit then," the older girl said, giving in.

At the back of the house, Armstrong was busy with work. He raised his large fist and slammed into the last piece of wood, with a yell, causing to break in half like the previous ones. He then headed back inside the Rockbell home.

"I have finished chopping up the wood, Lady Pinako," he said with a salute as he entered the immediate room from the door.

"Thank you," Pinako replied. She was working on her patient's new arm

"That reminds me," the Major said, glancing out the door. "I don't see Edwina Elric around here."

"She went to visit her mother's grave," the female mechanic explained.

"I told her it was dangerous to wonder off alone!"

"She's fine. She has a first-rate escort, and Rizenbul's best bodyguard, with her."

The first-rate escort and Rizenbul's best bodyguard was none other than Den. She trotted behind Edwina as she made her way through the village, a bunch of paper-wrapped flowers clasped carefully between her teeth. Her automail front left leg creaked slightly with each step. Edwina had changed back into her usual black trousers and tank top, and had pulled her red coat over for warmth.

"Hey, Edwina, good to see you're back! How are you?" a male voice called.

"Being a while!" another added.

Edwina turned her head to see two farmers she knew waving at her as their sheep crowded around them. "Oh, hi there!"

"As small as always I see," said the taller man, giving her a pat on the head.

"DON'T SAY 'SMALL'!"

"And quite flat for a girl your age," the other, wearing a white bandana, stated.

"AND DON'T SAY 'FLAT'!"

"Ok then, sorry. It was just good to see you again," the other man told her with a smile. "How's Alphonsa?"

"Oh, she's…she's fine."

"Great. I was worried the travelling might tire her out, as you are quite a handful sometimes. I wonder how she looks now, as she resembles your mother."

"Right…anyway, I got to go."

"Ok, stop by again sometime, and we can have a proper chat."

"I'll try."

Den was quite happy when Edwina stopped for another chat soon after setting off again, this with a portly man and his horse. She wagged her tail and barked. After this, they were off again.

Back at the house, Pinako was saying, "Major, those girls are passing each day peacefully, aren't they? As you can see, this place is a in the middle of no-where. I was worried because we don't get much news from the city and those girls haven't even sent one letter. It effects Winter too. He worries even more than me sometimes."

"Even Central has heard of the Elric sisters, in particular the elder one, the 'Fullmetal Alchemist'," Armstrong informed her.

Pinako picked up a screwdriver. "And it is because of that fame that they seem to get into trouble."

"But they are fine. Those sisters are strong."

"Strong you say," the bespectacled woman said, thinking back...

"_Aunty, you've got to save Nee-san! Please!"_

_Pinako and Winter had no words as they tried to take in the sight before them, only shocked and slightly fearful expressions. That sight was a large suit of suit, speaking with Alphonsa's voice and holding a blood-soaked, barely conscious Edwina in its arms. What was more shocked was that Edwina was missing an arm and a leg._

"You could say that," the woman said, coming back to the present, but as she spoke, images of the past continued to appear. "Four years ago, when Ed exchanged her arm to transmute Al…"

_Pinako looked over the older Elric, while Winter examined Alphonsa and listened to her explained how they had became in the state that were._

"…When she decided to become a dog of the Military…"

_The blonde girl was sitting in a bed, in the room she and her sister shared in the Rockbell home._

"_Aunty, I'm going to become a State Alchemist," the girl said. "So give me an arm and a leg so I can move freely!"_

"…When she withstood taking automail surgery that would make even an adult scream out."

_The girl had her single hand balled in the bed sheets and her teeth clenched as she stifled yet another scream._

The old woman was now examining the wires of the appendage. "Who would have thought she had that kind of strength in that small body? And because she was so tough, I worry if she would recover if something went wrong inside."

"You treat them as if they were your own grandchildren," the male alchemist observed. He realised he was standing next to a desk with a backboard full of pictures. He saw one with a one-armed Edwina eating a meal with Den; another of a young, smiling Winter tapping an unimpressed Pinako on the shoulder to show her what seemed to be his first automail; and one of a young Alphonsa reading a book. They all seemed rather unusual pictures, but he liked that they were snippets of every day life.

"I've seen them grow since they were born. I used to be an old drinking buddy of their father. That bastard left his wife and children behind here. I wonder where he's wandering off to now…"

Armstrong saw one final picture. It was the Elric family: Trisha, the sisters - and their father.

Trisha was smiling and holding a baby Alphonsa, who was sucking a dummy and clinging to her mother's clothing as she stared at the camera curiously. The sisters' father was holding up the presumably year-old Edwina by her waist, and she was smiling at the camera. The father's face, however, was hidden behind the photograph of Alphonsa, almost as if deliberate.

"Speaking of fathers, where are Winter's parents?" he asked.

"They died during the Ishval War. They were my son and his wife, and they were surgeons. They went off to the frontlines because they heard there wasn't enough doctors. And then, they got stuck in it."

Upstairs at that moment, Winter was happily chatting with Alphonsa while he worked on Edwina's automail leg.

"It was a horrible war," the almost-bald man stated. He started to remember his own time during it.

"Yeah, it was," the older Rockbell said, her pipe now in her mouth. "The people who lost arms and legs needed us prosthetic experts. It's ironic, really. We lost other families due to the war, and yet we're able to eat because of it."

At that moment, the chime on the clock on a chest of drawers began ding. Pinako placed her automail down and got to her feet. "Speaking of food, I've got to start preparing dinner," She looked at Armstrong. "You look like you eat a ton, so I'll try to make enough to satisfy you."

The moustached man raised a hand and said, "No, no I cannot let you go out of your way to take care of-"

The old female mechanic laughed, then responded, "No need to hold back. Food is yummier when eaten with everyone. As for beds, you can use the patient bed since no one else is. Anyhow, those sisters have no where else to stay at."

"'No-where else to stay at'? But this is their hometown. Should they not have their own house?"

"They don't have one. The day Ed earned her State alchemist licence and left, she burned down their home without a trace. I don't really get alchemy, but I do get what those girls are trying to do isn't easy. By getting rid of their home, they were trying to make sure that they wouldn't try to backtrack from what they are doing."

Meanwhile, a little bit away, Edwina had reached her mother's grave. By now, the sun was starting to set and a light breeze had started. Den placed the flowers on the grave and reminded quite, sensing that was what her change required.

The girl did not say a word. She simply stared at the grave. After a long time of silence, the girl moved on to look for something else she wanted to see. A little more down the path from the graveyard, she reached her destination: the pile of burnt wood, bits of brick and ash (along with some scorched grass) that remained of her home. Even though she had told herself there was 'no going back', she could not help but just wanting to see it.

Den looked up at the girl, making a small whine, as though to say, "We should go back."

"I'm done now. Let's go back," Edwina said to the animal. "Everyone's waiting."

That night's dinner was a most pleasant one.

* * *

Edwina woke at sunrise the next day. This was not because of a cockerel giving its morning call, rather by the sound of mechanical buzzing. She rose and curiously made her way to its source: Winter's room.

The boy was sitting at his desk, cutting the piece of metal to fit over the top of the metal arm as he and Pinako had swapped for the final stages. So enthralled was he in his work, that he did not notice the girl standing there. He had zipped his jump suit almost full-way, the sleeves rolled up, with his brown work gloves and mechanic's goggles shielding his eyes. Of course, he was wearing his bandana, a constant presence when he was working.

_He sure knows how to look professional, _thefemale teenager thought. _But he needs to hurry up!_

She tip-toed up to the boy as he put down his tool and raised the piece of metal to check its length against a ruler.

"Wow, you're at it already?" the girl said in a mocking voice, rubbing her chin. "And so early in the morning too."

"Granny and I have been up all night," the blonde male replied simply, a concentrated frown on his face as he placed the metal back down and started up the small mechanical cutter to adjust the length. Edwina felt awkward. Her plan had backfired.

She returned that evening, hoping to get a better reaction. Winter was now measuring a shoulder joint.

"Wow, it's so late and you're still working. You'll be done pretty soon at this rate, won't ya?" Edwina said with her hands behind her back as she peered at him from behind.

"Another all-nighter tonight," the boy responded in the same flat voice, placing the joint back down.

The next day, Edwina did not even say a word. She simply peeked at the boy's progress, moving around every so often to get a better look. Eventually, Winter could take it no longer. He placed his tools down, slamming his hands onto the desk, before turning around grabbed the girl by the back of her collar.

"What are you-" she was never able to finish the sentence.

"Out!" Winter shouted, dumping his best friend outside the door and slamming it shut.

The day after that, the blonde girl went outside to join Alphonsa and Den, as Winter had put an "Enter at Your Own Peril" sign on his door. After his reaction the previous day, Edwina knew where the limit lay. Due to the heat she was had returned to wearing the thin-strapped top and shorts.

"They said they'd take three days, so just be patient," Alphonsa told her sister. "Besides, I'm enjoying this break."

"Yeah, but I can't just sit here when I know a secret to the Philosopher's Stone lies in Central!" the older girl replied angrily. Only a few moments later, the two sisters and Den heard the sound of sandals slapping the ground.

"We're done!" Winter called to the group, holding up the finished product with a prideful smile, the top half of his jumpsuit returned to its usual place around his waist. "Sorry to keep you waiting!"

Edwina walked back inside. Armstrong was in the room as well. Alphonsa never liked to watch this part, and was happy to remain outside with Den. As she settled herself on the operating table with Armstrong watching from a sofa, she became to feel that nervousness. This was the part of automail maintenance she hated. It only lasted a few seconds, but that did not matter to her. She tried to relax as her friend and his grandmother positioned the automail at the port on her shoulder and leg, with a removable metal handle to help them move them. The boy was installing the arm while the woman (due to her small stature) was installing the leg.

"Are you ready, Ed?" Pinako asked.

"Yeah."

"Ok. On three, Winter. One…two…three!"

Edwina give a scream of pain as the automail was installed, her sensitive nerves connecting with the artificial ones. Armstrong received quite a shock.

The older female alchemist breathed a sigh. "I hate it when the nerves are connected."

"Don't whine," Winter told her. "Try moving your arm."

The girl did so, managing to twitch the fingers. The two mechanics set to adding the final additions. After covering the exposed wiring with a metal plate, Winter grabbed his spanner and began putting in and tightening bolts. Pinako did the same with the leg.

"I'll probably be able to get rid of this pain. I'll be so happy if that time comes," the blonde girl commented. "Once I get the Philosopher's Stone, I'll restore our bodies and life will be great."

"Too bad. You're a real money spinner," the older Rockbell replied.

Winter paused in his work and straightened up. "Isn't it cool to have automail?" he suddenly held his spanner with two hands, his eyes shut in bliss as he said, "The smell of oil…the squeaking of artificial muscles, the humming of bearings…ergonomically-designed…oh, the wonders of automail!"

"Machine freak," Edwina said.

The boy returned to reality. "You've got a cheek to talk, alchemy geek."

Pinako sighed as she completed her work. "All set."

Edwina got to her feet. She kicked up the leg and flexed the arm. "Feels good!"

"I figure you're going to skip the daily maintenance anyway, since you're like that, so listen up. The steel you are using now has its chrome ratio raised, and is more rust-resistant. In exchange, its strength is lowered, so don't…" Winter suddenly realised Edwina was no longer there. "Hey! I told you to listen!" He saw her speeding out of the front door, yelling, "Sorry for making you wait, Al!"

Once she had collected Al's broken armour, she asked her, "This is all the broken armour, right?"

"Yup, the Eastern City's police picked it up for me while collecting me," the younger girl answered.

"Will you fix her now?" Armstrong said, having followed Edwina.

"Yeah, but there's a little trick to it," explained the blonde. She removed the helmet and pointed inside. "See that seal in the back of the armour?" She was indicating a small, six-sided star with a circle, and inside that was a swirl. "This acts as the medium between Al's soul and her armour. To make sure the seal doesn't get erased, I need to repair her limbs."

"It seems to be written in blood," the male alchemist remarked.

"It is written in blood. My blood."

"Oh…"

She suddenly laughed, not noticing the man's concern. "That was pretty dangerous, wasn't it?"

"Sure was," Alphonsa agreed. "If that man had hit me any harder, I'd be a goner."

Edwina clapped her hands together, and placed them on the metal. There a flash of alchemic energy, and within that a new arm, leg and half a metal body was reformed. Alphonsa stood, creaking, and, similar to her sister with her automail, flexed her arm and leg.

"Okay," the older alchemist said, tapping the armour. "Iet's-" She could not even finish her sentence before she had to flip out of the way of an incoming metal-and-leather fist, as the younger girl know exactly what she had been about to say. The two begin to fight, Edwina doing flips and throwing mainly kicks, and Alphonsa punching and trying to grab her opponent. At one point, the younger Elric even grabbed her sister by one of her legs and threw her backwards. Edwina just managed to land on her feet.

"Why are you two fighting?" Armstrong asked.

"No, no," the older Elric said, taking another swing. "I'm combining a performance check with some sparring."

"And I'm restoring the feeling back into the armour, as it hasn't been moving for a while."

"Well then…" the man suddenly tore off his shirt. "I SHALL HELP ALSO!"

The two girls were unnerved and tried to run for it.

"I SHALL GIVE IT ALL I HAVE!"

The older alchemist grabbed Edwina by the back of her collar, sending her flying again, but this time, she had no time to land on her feet. It was only the older girl he went after, though he did not reveal the reason why.

A little later on, Winter wandered out, removing his bandana; glad to let his hair free. He was going to both get fresh air and inform his guests that dinner was ready.

…_What are they doing? _He wondered when he saw the three of them fighting. _Did they have an argument or something?_

"Hey, you lot! Dinner's ready!" he called.

The trio stopped almost immediately.

"Great!" the blonde girl said. "Me and the Major are starving!"

The five people settled down to another lovely meal, prepared by Pinako (with Winter's help). Even Den was having her bowl of dog food in the dining room. As she could not eat, but still wanted to be at the table, Alphonsa used the time to polish her helmet. However, she could not stop the longing feeling.

"So, what was that out there?" Winter asked.

"Our sensei used to say 'to train the mind, first train the body'," the armour-girl explained.

"That's why we usually train ourselves like that," Edwina added, taking a mouthful of food.

The blonde boy pointed a knife at her. "I don't like it. Since when did you have time for sparring anyway? That'll break the automail for sure. And next time-"

"Well I'm making money and that makes me happy," Pinako said, cutting across her grandson.

"However, they are correct," the almost-bald man said. "A healthy mind lives well in a well-trained body," he turned to the male teenager. "You are quite fit and toned, Winter Rockbell, though not as much as Edwina Elric, I am afraid. Perhaps if you were to train like your friends, you could…" He stood up, and yet again tore off his shirt. "HAVE A BEAUIFUL BODY LIKE MINE!"

"N-no thanks," the boy said, trying to hide his discomfort along with his grandmother.

_How many times is he going to do that? _The Fullmetal Alchemist thought. "Al, get that sauce…"

After a little 'encouragement' from Edwina, Armstrong re-donned his shirt and sat back down again.

"Tomorrow, we'll get the first train to Central," the blonde teenager told her sister.

"Really? This place will be quiet again," Pinako said.

Alphonsa was now feeding Den some scarps, as she was still hungry.

"When we get out bodies back, we won't need Winter or Aunty," Edwina told the armour girl.

Upon hearing this, the two Rockbells laughed.

"Yeah right, kiddo," Pinako said. "You can't do anything without us mechanics, idiot. If you didn't have those limbs, all you could do would be just sitting there, shouting, complaining or talking."

"What do you meant by 'idiot'?" the girl snapped.

"Well said!" the almost-bald man commented.

Soon it was dark. Not soon after, Edwina was lying on a couch in the living room, quietly snoring.

Alphonsa sighed as she and Pinako saw this.

"She fell asleep with her stomach out…again," the younger girl said disapprovingly.

Pinako chuckled. "You act just like her guardian, Al."

"It's hard to tell which one of you is the older one," Winter said as he too entered the room. He was holding a blanket. He gently covered the sleeping girl with the blanket and sat on the couch next to her head.

"Oh, that reminds me, who old are you two now?" Pinako asked.

"I'm fourteen and Nee-san's fifteen," the armour-girl replied.

The blonde boy smiled and chortled before saying, "It's funny that Ed's called a 'human weapon' despite being a pipsqueak the same age as me." he looked down at the girl as she turned over onto her side. "And she's sleeping like a baby, so vulnerable." He proceeded to stroke the girl's hair. "And I must admit, she looks kind of cute when she's asleep. Looks can be deceiving."

There was a long instant of silence before Alphonsa become the third person to laugh.

"Huh? What is it?" the confused boy asked.

"What I just said reminded me of when we went to the Youswell Coal Mines." Images flashed through her head. "Those coal miners were being pushed around by their bosses and asked us to help them out. Nee-san didn't want to help them out at all in the beginning, especially after she was thrown out after saying she was a State Alchemist. But when Nee-san heard the boss of the group, Haling, say that, 'This is our home and coffin', she decided to help. She went overboard."

"I see it was the 'our home' part, huh?" the bespectacled woman said with another chuckle. "The pain of losing something as important as a home to go back to must have hit you hard."

"Yeah. That's why we're always grateful to you and Winter for being here for us like a real family. It's just hard for me to say the same for Nee-san." The girl's voice took on a more sad tone as she continued. "But still the reality is that the house that we were born and raised in doesn't even exist anymore. I don't regret burning it down, but there are times where I really want to cry for it, but I can't. If I cried just once, I'd probably break down. I almost did so after Mum died."

Winter stopped stroking the older female's hair and frowned. "She won't cry even though she has a body that can, and she berates me about it, simply because I'm a boy. She's only acting tough."

"Yeah. I don't mind you crying at all. I wish Nee-san wouldn't tease you about it."

Outside the room, Armstrong was wiping his tears.

* * *

The Elric Sisters, Armstrong and Pinako had arisen very early. The cockerel was only just making its dawn call atop Den's head. Edwina pulled on her gloves and Alphonsa moved over to Den (causing the cockerel to jump down and join a hen and her chicks) and stroked her head in a bid of farewell.

"Thanks for taking care of us, Aunty," The blonde girl thanked the old woman as she picked up her suitcase.

"No problem," she replied.

"Where's Winter?" the young Elric asked her.

"Still sound asleep since he stayed all night for the past two nights. Want me to wake him up?"

Edwina shook her head, and quickly said, "Don't! He'd go on and on about maintaining the automail or something like that. See you."

"Take care."

The two girls and the man began walking.

"Hey, wait a minute!"

The group stopped.

"You girls come back for a meal every now and then, OK?" Pinako asked.

"Yeah, we'll drop by sometime," the younger girl said.

"Who'd go this far into the mountains just for a meal?" the older teenager rhetorically questioned.

The muscular man gave a small laugh.

"What?"

"To have a family to welcome you…it must be wonderful to have a place to return to."

"Really? We're the wandering sort of folk that go from journey to journey."

The girl heaved her suitcase over her shoulder and they all started to walk again, but were again stopped by a weak call of, "Ed! Al!"

The three looked around. Leaning on his wooden balcony railing for support was Winter, his hair messy, an exhausted expression on his face and wearing a crumpled t-shirt and shorts.

He raised one of his hands, waved sleepily, and said, in a voice little louder than a whisper, "Have a safe journey. See you later."

Edwina turned her back to him to hide the face that she was now blushing. "Yeah…"

For the third time, the trio started to walk the sisters waving as they did so. The boy gave a final smile before returning inside and collapsing into bed.

"Nee-san, your face is red," Alphonsa observed.

"It is not!" the girl quickly replied. "It was just nice that Winter came out to say goodbye even though he's so tired!"

"Is that all?"

"Shut up!"

Later that day, Winter awoke. He slipped on his sandals and made his way downstairs, his hair and clothes even more unkempt.

"…Morning Granny," he groggily said to Pinako, who was collecting the blanket Edwina had used the previous night to include it in the washing.

"What do you mean, 'morning'? It's late."

The blue-eyed boy picked up the clock. "Ack. I slept all day."

"Clean up the work bench," the woman ordered as she left the room.

Winter looked at the rather untidy bench. "Oh, I left it like this after fixing Ed's arm." He picked up a piece of cloth lying on the bench and moved it aside. "There's always something going on whenever she shows up." As he picked his spanner to move it, he noticed something odd. "Hm?" He picked up the tiny object he had spotted to get a better look at it. When his brain had realised what he was looking at, his eyed widened. How could he have forgotten to put this vital object into the automail?

"…Oops," was all the teenager could say.

* * *

**Author's Notes: This was one of the chapter I was really looking forward to writing. Not to mention I got it out much sooner than the previous one ^_^. I am still bogged down exam-related things, and I am becoming more and more nervous as the official exam that dictate whether I go to college or not are less than a month away (they start on the thirteen of May. That mean they are only a fortnight away). Be prepared for more delays. Sorry if my constant speaking of exams is boring you all, dear readers.**  
**For those who do not know, a 'dummy' is a pasifier.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Leave a review if you want.**

**Thank you ^_^.**

**P.S: I am SO freaking glad the fucking royal wedding is over as I could not give any less a damn about it, being a proud Republican and Nationalist. A Republican over here is not the same as the ones in America; they are people who oppose the royal family and wish them to be abolished. What made it worse is that Kate Middleton was originally a Catholic (I do not what kind), and she was made to pledge a legion to the fucking Church of England in order to marry William. And they have the cheek to call us Roman Catholics sectarian!**  
**There was all these stupid documentaries and adverts about it too, and what annoyed me is they generalised. The supermarket adverts said things like "The world has gone Royal Wedding mad" and "Everyone's celebrating the Royal Wedding".**  
**I was sick all the news coverage, the stupid mechanise and everything about it in general.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

_**The Philosopher's Stone**_

"Come on, Al, Major, hurry up!" the older Elric called back as she ran along the train station.

"Nee-san, we really don't have to hurry," the younger female said as she their escort caught up Edwina as she came to a halt.

The Fullmetal Alchemist spread out her arms and said, "We're here! At Central!"

"Major Armstrong, we're here to see you!" called a new, female voice.

The trio saw a man and a woman walking towards them. The duo stopped before them and gave a salute. They were clad in Military uniforms, with the female wearing the standard black coat.

Second Lieutenant Ross's neat hair was so short it was more of a hairstyle suited to a man, and it was as dark as Colonel Mustang's, with a neat parting. Her skin seemed almost pale in comparison, but was nevertheless fair. She also had a birthmark under her left eye.

Brosh's hair was a light brown, and was also short, except from his fringe, which bore a similarity to Edwina's with two exceptions: he did not have a cowlick and the framing fringe only went down to the bottom of his cheeks. He also had fair hair.

"Good work, Second Lieutenant Ross, Sergeant Brosh," Armstrong told them.

"Oh, you must be the Fullmetal Alchemist," Brosh said, looking at the two girls. They moved over to Alphonsa.

"I'm Maria Ross. It's an honour to meet you," the woman introduced her herself to the girl.

"And I'm Denny Brosh. Your outfit matches your name perfectly. How impressive! It makes it hard to tell your gender unless you talk and you look tall in it," said the man.

"Actually, this is girl here," Armstrong and Alphonsa pointed to a fuming Edwina. "Is the Fullmetal Alchemist."

"Huh?" said Ross.

"The small boy-ish girl?" asked Brosh.

The moustached man grabbed the girl by her plait as she gave a cry of rage and leapt the unfortunate soldiers.

"I…didn't mean 'small'…um…erm…" the Sergeant could not find any word to say as he and Ross nervously watched the blonde struggle to get free. After she had calmed down, she was realised.

"I shall go report to Central HQ," the Strong-Arm Alchemist said.

"Oh, what was that? Is this where we part? Good job! I'm so sad. Bye-bye!" the golden-eyed girl said sarcastically, waving one of her arms with a huge smile on her face.

The man pulled the girl into another rib-crushing hug causing her to struggle and yell. "I am sad as well! It was truly a fun journey! May we meet each other again some time!" As he put her down, he told Ross and Brosh, "Take care of the rest."

"Yes, Sir!" the two said, saluting again.

"What? I still have to have escorts?" The girl asked.

"Of course," the Major replied.

The now group of four made their way to some Military cars while Armstrong left on his own.

"According to the East HQ's report, Scar has yet to be apprehended. Until the situation settles down, we shall act as your escorts," Ross explained once they were on the road. Alphonsa took up rather a lot of space. "While we are not as capable as the Major, we have confidence in our abilities, so please be relieved."

"I guess we can't do anything about this," Edwina said in a petulant manner.

"Nee-san, you're supposed to say 'thank you'," Alphonsa said.

"'Sister'…?" a confused Brosh said, and directed his speech to Edwina. "Edwina, this armoured girl is your sister?"

"Yup," the girl replied.

"Why do you wear that armour, Alphonsa?"

The girls looked at each other, trying to think of a good enough excuse.

"It's a hobby," the both said eventually.

The two soldiers turned to each other and leaned into to whisper to one other.

"A hobby? Why is that a hobby, Second Lieutenant?

"I know. Who are these kids?"

"Hey, there it is! I can see it! I can see it!" the Fullmetal Alchemist suddenly yelled, pointing out of the window to a building they were approaching.

"Oh, that's the National Central Library. It boasts the greatest collection of within the nation. Many research files, past records," Ross explained as the Elrics joined her and the sergeant on the ground next to the building. "However…" The Fullmetal Alchemist's eyes widened when she saw the First Branch. It was nothing but blackened ruins. "Just a few days ago, all the books were destroyed in a mysterious fire."

* * *

In East City, the Military Headquarters were abuzz with activity.

"Colonel Mustang."

Said woman and her subordinates turned to towards the door of the room as it opened. "Well, well, if it isn't General Hakuro. How's your injury?"

"It won't prevent me from working," the man said. There was a bandage on his ear. "The matter of Scar is more important. I want to know how a single man caused this much trouble, and why, despite a mobilising a large number of men, he hasn't been apprehended yet," the man told the black-haired woman.

"We are continuing the search with every available resource at our disposal. If you were to give more time-"

"I want results not words. At this rate, we're going to end up having to issue with a warning to the entire East Area!"

The man turned and left after berating the woman a little longer. Mustang returned to her along with Havoc and Hawkeye (who was carrying papers) in tow and sit down at her desk.

"I thought it was rare for that old man to come from the New Optain Branch. He only came here to undermine you. I'm sick of him always trying to belittle you. I bet that he thinks he can simply because you're a lower rank and female. It's like he's out to get you sometimes. I bet he doesn't treat his wife like this. I don't be a Colonel," the blonde smoker said.

"You're only afraid of when your own position will be changed," Mustang replied.

Havoc and Hawkeye lay out at a map of the East City on the desk. "However, I too want the Scar case to be over with. It's best to nip it in the bud in case of future threats."

"On the other hand, there is some good news."

"What is that then, Ma'am?" Hawkeye asked.

"My reputation will grow even at Central by taking care of these unwieldy criminal cases." The First Lieutenant sighed in annoyance at his superior's ego. However, he _had_ made a promise, and whole-heartedly believed that she would do a good job. That did not stop him from being annoyed. "I will turn misfortune into gain and use everything I can to get promoted." The black-haired woman place one hand on top of the other and rested her chin on them, her expression serious. "That is until I gain full authority over the Military in the position of Führer. And the first female one at that."

"I believe it would be best if you refrained from saying anything inappropriate," the blonde man advised.

"Yes. I'll try to be careful."

Little did the three soldiers notice that they were being watched from the roof, and had been so even since they had entered the office.

"Well, Gluttony?" Lust asked as she returned to the headquarter rooftop, were the younger Homunculus sat.

"Hello Lust," the plump man replied.

"Has Scar shown up since I was away?" the attractive woman asked as she move to stand next to Gluttony.

"Nope. Not near here," he responded.

"Hmph. that Fullmetal girl found out where the documents for the Philosopher's Stone were hidden. Luckily, I got there before her and disposed of them." She sat down. "It's not easy trying to find specific documents in a place that big, so I just burned the whole place down. No need to watch over the girl anyway. I came to back to see how things are here. We still haven't take care of…" she trailed off. "Gluttony?"

Her partner had stood up, his nose twitching. "I smell him! I smell him! The Ishvalite stinking of blood is getting close!"

A smile spilt the woman's features as she said, "Well done, Gluttony."

"Can I eat him?"

"Don't even leave a single strand of hair."

Gluttony also smiled in glee.

Scar was making his way through the sewers, completely unaware he had been detected.

As he walked, a rat had taken to following him, hoping he had a morsel to spare. The rat suddenly let out a frightened squeak and fled, alerting Scar. Something was lurking in the shadows behind him. He turned around. He saw a pair of white, slighting glowing eyes, which belonged to a far man wearing black clothing and a grin on his face, drooling slightly.

Faster than his size could have indicated, the man charged at the Ishvalan, who readied himself.

There was an explosion, sending bricks of the tunnel to fly into the outside air.

* * *

"Hmm…Tim Marcoh…research files on the Philosopher's Stone…" said the dark-skinned female receptionist at the information desk as she looked through a reference book. "Just as I thought, they're not in the catalogue. Any new books that entered the main or other branches would definitely be checked and logged in the catalogue. Since they aren't in here, it means the files never _were _here or that they were destroyed in the fire the other day…hello?"

She noticed that the blonde girl had slumped into her knees, staring at the ground in disappointment, almost looking ill. When she realised the woman was watching her, Edwina hurriedly got to her feet.

"Well, thanks for trying to help," Alphonsa said.

"Are you two alright," the woman asked.

"No, we're not," the older alchemist replied.

"Wait a minute! Scieszka might know about this," a man in glasses said, stopping next to the receptionist with his hands full of books. "She was at the first branch before I think."

"Oh, right, I forgot about her. If you check Scieszka's house, you'll hopefully find what you need."

"Is she somebody who knows about the books from that branch?" Edwina asked.

"She knows a lot…She's a bookworm to a tee."

The Elric informed the Second Lieutenant and Sergeant, who had been waiting outside, of what they had been told and headed in to the direction the desk librarian had told them to which to go to in order find Scieszka's house. Once to had, they knocked on the door, but no one came.

"Maybe she's not in?" Brosh said, after another knock with no response.

"The lights are on, so she's properly home," The Fullmetal Alchemist noted.

They tried opening the door themselves and were surprised to find it unlocked. Three sets of eyes widened as they took in the site before them: piles and piles of books. That particular smell paper held was strong and dust had accumulated in some places.

"What the…?" Edwina cried, staring at the piles and piles of books in front of her. "Who needs all these books?"

"Is someone one even capable of living here?" Brosh exclaimed.

"Ms. Scieszka! Are you here?" Ross called.

"Hellooo?" the Sergeant called.

"I believe someone could in this kind of environment," Alphonsa muttered. She perked up when she heard a female's voice call: "Someone help me!"

She tracked the voice to a pile of books. "Nee-san, there's a person trapped in here!"

The two soldiers and sisters began to pick up and toss the books aside. Suddenly, something jumped out from the pile, making the four jump. Sitting there was a mousey woman with brown, chin-length hair with a messy fringe and half-rimmed glasses. She was wearing a black turtleneck sweater, blue jeans and slippers.

"I'm so sorry!" the woman said as she adjusted her glasses. "I wasn't paying attention when a big pile of books came tumbling down on top of me. I thought I was going to die! Thank you for saving me!" she gave a bow.

"You're welcome," Edwina said in a slightly annoyed fashion as she shook a book off her head.

After the books had been put away as best as possible, the woman and her guests settled down for a talk.

"Yes, I'm Scieszka," the woman said. "I love books, and I was very happily employed by the Branch Library…but, because I love books, I forgot that I was supposed to be working, and read instead. I got fired. I have to work as I want to put my sick mother in a better hospital, but…" she clamped her hands over her face. "I'm clumsy at doing anything else other than reading books and I can't get work anywhere. I'm a useless human being…the rubbish of society…"

_Why is it always the mothers who get sick_? Alphonsa sadly thought. _It's just not fair…_

_Is this woman sane_? _She sure is over-reacting,_ Edwina thought. "Um…there's something I need to ask you, Scieszka: Do you know anything about the research files of Tim Marcoh?"

"Tim Marcoh…? Marcoh…" Scieszka tapped her chin in thought. Suddenly it came back to her and she clapped her hands together. "Now I remember! I remember those pretty well since they were one of the rare ones that were among the printed books and shoved in a book shelf of the wrong genre."

"They were at the branch," the older Elric said, and the two Elrics slumped over in realisation. "But that means they were burned to ashes…! We start from scratch again…!"

"Sorry for wasting your time," the armour girl told the woman.

"Do you want to read those files," the former library-worker asked.

"Yes," the blonde girl replied. "But there's no way we can-"

"I remember all that was written, though."

"HUH?"

"Because…I remember everything I read in a book after reading it just once, word for word, without a single mistake." The two girls' jaws dropped. "It will take some time, but shall I make you a copy?"

Edwina grabbed one of the woman's hands and shook it vigorously, saying, "Thank you, you wonderful bookworm!"

Alphonsa also celebrated by punching the air (and would have jumped if she could).

Five days later, Scieszka stood before a desk almost completely covered with varying piles of documents. She called over her four visitors.

"I'm sorry it took me so long, they were so many," she said indication the papers with her hand. "These are duplicates of the documents by Mr. Tim Marcoh."

"She actually did it…" the Fullmetal Alchemist said in awe. "There sure incredible people in the world, right, Al?"

"Yeah…" the younger teenager agreed. "It makes sense, now, why Mr. Marcoh didn't take the papers with him. There are too many."

The golden-eyed girl picked up a paper and skimmed it. "These really are Mr. Marcoh's notes?"

"Yes. Without a doubt," the brunette replied. The woman grabbed two of the papers. "Tim Marcoh's culinary research documents! 'A Thousand Flavours for Today's Menu'!"

There was silence.

"…Huh?" the Elrics said in unison.

Ross and Brosh too picked up a paper.

"'Add a dash of water to one tablespoon sugar…' These really _are _'A Thousand Flavours for Today's Menu'!" Ross exclaimed.

"Just _how _are these important documents?" Brosh demanded to know.

"'Important'…? I only copied them as I remembered…" Scieszka said.

"So this is something completely different, written by someone else with the same name?"

"This really is what Dr. Marcoh wrote, word for word, without mistake. I'm positive!"

The female State Alchemist suddenly grinned. "You're incredible. Thanks." She tucked as many papers as she could carry under arm. "Ok, Al, let's take these back to Central."

Alphonsa mentally nodded and picked up some of the papers herself. "Yup. There are plenty of dictionaries there too."

"And for helping us, Scieszka…" Edwina reached into her coat and pulled out a small book, along with a pen. She quickly jotted something down. "Second Lieutenant Ross. Here's my registration code, my signature, and my watch as proof of my identity." She handed the items to the female soldier, then moved towards the door. "Go to the State Alchemist division at the Führer's office, withdraw from my annual research fund the sum of money on the note, and give it to Scieszka."

"Yes, Ma'am," Ross replied.

The blonde girl waved to the spectacle-wearing girl. "Thank you for you help, Scieszka! Bye now!"

"Yes, thank you very much," Alphonsa said, pausing to bow before the two of them left along with Brosh.

"I wonder how much she wrote down," Ross said.

The two women looked at the paper. Their eyes widened.

The sergeant jumped as two screams filled the air.

"_Why did she give so much?_"

"_How does one kid have so much money_?"

After the Second Lieutenant had recovered, the group of four made their way back to Central Library. The four obtained a quiet part of the library in which to place the documents for the Elrics to study. It was a place room, with a decent-sized table and a few chairs surrounded by full book shelves. Edwina discarded her coat and sat down at the table along with Alphonsa. The Second lieutenant was waiting next to the door.

"'Alchemist, live for the public'," Edwina told Brosh as he placed the last of the papers on the desk. "And just like those words, Alchemists have a code to give the fruits of their abilities to ordinary people without bias. And because State Alchemists go against that rule, they're called 'dogs of the military'. On the other hand, we've got to make sure normal people don't learn about that knowledge."

"Oh, I see. It would be a problem if alchemy was easily understandable and used for the wrong purposed," Brosh deduced.

"Yeah. And how do they prevent this from happening? By coding their alchemic documents." The girl grinned and lifted a document before continuing. "To an ordinary person, these are just culinary research documents. But they really are highly advanced files on alchemy with many meaning hidden within and metaphors that only one who wrote them would understand."

"Amazing…How are you going to decode it, then?"

"By using a lot of knowledge and patience," the replied without looking at the man, her eyes focused on the document."

The light-brunette's expression became filled with confusion. "…That seems daunting."

"I think the parts modelled after culinary research documents will be easy to decode," Alphonsa chipped in. "After all, it's said that alchemy originated from the kitchen."

"…Really?" Edwina said curiously.

"Nee-san's research notes are coded to look like travelogues. Even though I travel with her, even I wouldn't understand them."

"The research notes of Colonel Roya Mustang are coded after the names of men," Brosh told them.

"Typical," Edwina said, before her expression became determined as she returned to the papers. _I bet she names them after her dates… _

The blonde girl's face changed to that of a determined one. "Alright, let's decode this and take a look at the truth!"

"Yeah!" Alphonsa cheer, pumping her leather-and-metal hands into the air.

A week later, and the Elric Sisters had not worked out the code. On that day, a week later, the two were mentality exhausted. They had worked with little rest, eating in the room, Edwina sleeping in the room, and only leaving for the occasional toilet break.

"This code is too damn hard to break," the Fullmetal Alchemist groaned, her eyes closed.

"Nee-san, let's ask Mr. Marcoh," Alphonsa suggested in an equally weary voice.

"No way!" The older alchemist raised her head, her face determined again. "He'd just say 'You don't have the right to learn the truth of the Philosopher's Stone if you cannot solve something as simple as this."

"Excuse me, you two,"

The two teenagers straightened up to see Brosh entering the room - along with Scieszka.

"What are you doing here, Scieszka?" Edwina asked

The woman leaned forward slightly as she spoke, "I heard you two were here and…well I don't know how to thank you!"

The alchemists look at each other. "Huh?"

"Thanks to you, Ms. Edwina, I was able to get my mother put in a better hospital!" The woman beamed. "Isn't it great?"

"I did tell you it'd be OK."

Scieszka looked at the papers a hand raised to her mouth. "I wonder if I gave you too much…and you gave me too much in return…"

Edwina raised her hand, her head back down on the pages, and her eyes closed. "Don't worry about it, we're fine. They're worth every penny."

_So those cooking research documents were hiding that sort of thing,_ The woman thought. "Well then, have you finished decoding it?"

There was silence as the two girls stared at her.

"Erm…" Edwina did not want to admit it.

"Did you find a job?" Alphonsa quickly said, changing the subject.

Scieszka looked at ground. "No…" She then suddenly bowed to the two girls. "Well, I should be going now. Thank you very much."

"I told you not to worry about the money!" Edwina snapped, becoming a little agitated.

"It's not just the money," a smile spread on the woman's face as she spoke, a smile that made her eyes close. "I'm also happy that a useless human being who can do nothing but read a lot could help out. Thank you."

"You're not a useless human being," Alphonsa said in a kind tone. "I think that trying your best to do something is by itself a talent."

The bookworm smiled even wider. "Thank you!"

_How many times is she going to say 'thank you'?_ The older alchemist thought. _I mean, it IS nice, but not over and over again…_

"Yo!"

The three females jumped at the new voice. The Elric looked up and Scieszka turned around.

"Lieutenant Colonel Hughes!" Edwina exclaimed in surprise.

Hughes was standing there, in his usual greeting pose of raising one hand into the air. Ross and Brosh saluted him on either side of the door.

"I heard from the major that you guys were here," he told the Elrics as he walked up to them. Then in a slightly scolding tone, said, "I told you to give a shout if you popped by Central."

"Sorry. We're sort of busy," Alphonsa replied with a giggle.

"Well, I was 'too busy' and couldn't get away from work."

Ross and Brosh were suspicious once more.

"They're talking casually with Lieutenant Colonel Hughes!" the sergeant whispered.

"What are they? Just who _are _these kids," the Second Lieutenant asked.

Meanwhile, Hughes had changed the conversation to something rather more grim.

"Lately, there've been a lot of crimes. The Military Tribunal I've been in has been bustling," Hughes explained, rubbing his neck as he spoke. "And the deal with the case Tucker's chimera still hasn't been finished."

Edwina's face began angry and in her mind, Alphonsa's face became sad."

"Ah, sorry. I brought back bad memories, didn't I? Anyway…" he took a seat. Scieszka was thoroughly confused.

"Did you come here just to us even though you're busy?" Alphonsa hopefully asked.

"Nah, I just need a break."

"Oh…"

The glasses-wearing man sighed. "Damn…the First Branch just _has _to get burned down at it's a busy time like this."

"The First Branch? What's that to do with you?" the blonde girl asked.

"The tribunal is close by, so I would shore records of old cases and registries of names in that book collection. This is preventing me from getting any work done."

"Huh?" the alchemist said in unison. Their gaze switched to Scieszka, whose eyes widened as she became nervous. "I did read and remember Military detective records too but…"

"How about her, Lieutenant Colonel?" Edwina asked, indicating the brunette. "She's looking for work."

"Huh? This lady has the kind of ability?" Hughes placed his hands on the table and leaned over it, surprised. He jumped to his feet, and moved over to the woman, talking in a fast, excited manner. "Let's start right away! We pay very well!"

"_Eh_?" the bookworm yelled in surprise. "Really?"

"Of course!" Hughes snagged the girl by the back of her turtle-necked top.

"Ex-Excuse me, you two," Scieszka said in a fanatic manner. Thank you! I'll be more confident in myself and try me best! Thank you so much!" That was all she could say before she was dragged off by the Lieutenant Colonel.

"Geez…is he a kidnapper or something?" Edwina remarked, then turned to her sister, a mocking expression on her face. "'Trying your best to do something is by itself a talent'? Not bad, little sister."

Alphonsa sighed at her sister's lack of belief. Placing her metal cheek in her hand, she said, "I picked it up by looking at her. It's what I felt from the bottom of my heart."

"You're such a softie."

"And I don't mind."

"Heh! Well, we'd best get back to work."

Three days later, it seemed they still had not made much process.

"Ten whole days…" Ross muttered as she and Brosh paced outside the room, her brow furrowed.

"It's closing time," the man replied. He went to open the door. Sudden, there was the sound of wood hitting the floor coupled with fists hitting another piece of wood, and a cry of "No way!" which caused the soldiers to jump and race into the room.

Edwina was standing, her chair the fallen object, her teeth gritted and her hands in fists on the table.

"What happened?" Brosh cried as he and Ross come to a halt. "Were you two fighting?"

Alphonsa's eyes were devoid of their usual light.

"No…it's not that…" she said in a low, almost sad voice.

"Are you upset that you haven't broken the code then?" Ross asked.

"We broke it." The girl's voice reminded low.

"Oh, really?" Brosh said in an excited voice.

Edwina, who had walked from the table, suddenly fell on her bottom, her legs giving way.

"How is there _anything_ good about this?" the girl shouted, and punched the floor in front of her, not caring about the resulting pain. She raised her other hand to her face and placed in it onto her forehead. "'The Research of the Devil' he called it. You're despicable, Dr. Marcoh!"

The Sergeant placed a gentle hand on the alchemist's shoulder. "Just what did you find out?"

Edwina clenched her teeth. "The raw materials needed for the Philosopher's Stone…ARE LIVING HUMANS!"

* * *

**Author's Notes: I have done my exams. I think English was ok, RMPS too, but I know I have done badly in Human Biology. What was really nice what before I did them, my taxi escort (the school felt I had to be escorted to it due to my eyesight, even though I do not need one), Jamie (a second-year boy who is in the taxi with me) and Tom and Stevie (two of the regular taxi drivers) all signed a card wishing me good luck :). The escort also brought me a little poem card :).**  
**My last ever day at school was last exam (the first of June) and I do not think it has sank in. I will get the results shortly. You will glad he her the last of them will you not, dear readers?**

**I just want to say this: Due to my moving house, so I will not be on here for quite a while.  
I do not when I will be back, as I don ot know when I will be moving house.  
I will see you all then.**

**I had a wonderful prom. First, we had a nice three-course meal (though I did not realise I was eating meat on a Friday).**

**Then we has these funny awards, like : "Mostly likely to be a WAG", "Mostly likely to be an alcoholic", "Nicest Smile", "Nicest Eyes", "Mostly likely to marry" and "Most likely to not win an award", "Most likely to go to prison". On two of them, two people (well one boy to two girls) kissed for the award . The funniest one was this: A boy, one of my friends, was given the "Prom Queen" award XD.**

**Some of the boys were brave enough to wear kilts…and stupid/brave enough to not wear anything underneath (the supposed 'proper and traditional' way). I know this as they woman flash to anyone who was close to them.**

**There was dancing, of course, and quite a variety. From traditional Scottish dances like "The Gay Gordons" (Gay meaning 'happy') to "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" by Elton John to "I predict a riot". Girls danced with boys, boys dancing with boys and girls danced with girls (in a friendship way).**  
**Another funny part of the night was that some people were getting high on the helium in the balloons at the place. Some teenagers were also smoking *shakes head*.**

**We had photos, and some of the teachers at my (now former) school came and took pictures too. I screamed when my friend picked me up for one.**

**No one make any nasty comments about my jumpsuit. One girl from my registration class even said that I was lucky that I could look good without make, as she was "caked in it". Matthew also said I looked beautiful .**

**Speaking of Matthew, do any of you remember that I told you he was going to confess his love for a girl? Well, guess who that girl was?**

**Me.**

**I truly and utterly feel it a complete idiot for not realising this. I must be really dense. Be honest, dear viewers, am I dense for not realising this? I also allowed him to give a peck on the cheek .**

**You will be to know I will be finally be shutting up about this .**

**Leave a review if you want.**

**Thank you ^_^.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

_**The Two Guardians**_

"I probably would have been happier not learning this," Edwina said, not making any attempted to get up. Bosch moved away from her at her request. "If what these documents say is true, then, the raw materials for the Philosopher's Stone are living humans." The girl lowered her hand to cup her chin, her expression angry. "And it will take multiple sacrifices to make just one!"

"I can't believe that something so inhumane was done by an organization under the military…" Bosch said in a low voice.

"This is unforgivable!" Ross cried.

"Second Lieutenant Ross, Sergeant Brosh…" the girl's hand returned to her head for a brief moment. "Please don't tell anyone about this."

"But " Brosh began, but was swiftly cut off by the blonde teenager.

"Please…" she was hanging her head. "Just act like you never heard this."

Meanwhile, in East City, several police officers, The Flame Alchemist, Hawkeye and Havoc had gathered. Mustang, as usual when outside, had her coat thrown onto her shoulders like a cloak. It was a habit of hers.

"Oh boy," said one of the police officers as he stared at the pile of broken bricks and rubble. At least most of the bridge was still standing.

"Was there an explosion?" the other, older present officer queried.

"Dunno," the younger man replied. "Maybe it was a terrorist attack?"

"Hey, hey, hey, lay off. The scar case isn't over yet. It could have been wait a minute, what's that?" He indicated a singed gold jacket.

Hawkeye stepped forward and crouched to take a closer look. After turning over the item to check it fully, he concluded, "This is definitely what Scar wore."

"Is there a corpse?" the female Colonel asked the blonde man.

"We're searching, but it's going to take weeks to get through all the rubble," Havoc stated, a lit cigarette in his mouth.

"I see," the woman rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

"Regardless, even if he did survive, with the amount of blood to he seems to have lost, he probably isn't in good shape."

"But still, keep your guard up until his death has been varied."

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Second Lieutenant?" Mustang turned to her head to the man as she spoke.

"Yes?" he responded, in what could have been a bored tone, further emphasized by his expression, also appearing bored.

"You and the others are to continue clearing away the rubble."

"Urg, come on, give me a break. Your not trying to work us to death are you?" Havoc asked in a suddenly tired voice.

"Shut up! I won't relax or let you have breaks until I see Scar's corpse in front of me. I know it's hard, but I gave you orders, so follow them.

"Oh, I see," the man replied. _Geez, what a bitch._

"Second Lieutenant Havoc," the Lieutenant said in his stern voice. "You heard the Colonel, so get back to work like I am!"

Even Mustang was surprised at these words.

Again, none of the three soldiers, this time along with the policeman, did not notice they were being watched.

"I didn't get to eat him," Gluttony said in a sad voice, his finger on his chin.

"Don't worry. Next time, OK?" Lust reassured him. "He can't move for a while after taking that much damage, anyway." She folded her arms, her face returning to its usual sharp expression. "I'm going back to Central.

I have to inform Father."

Back in Central, Ross, Brosh and Major Armstrong were at the hotel at which the Elrics were staying.

"So, the Elric sisters haven't come out of their all day?" Armstrong asked Ross and Brosh.

"Yeah, and they haven't eaten either," Ross replied.

"Hmmm," Armstrong said with his hand on his chin. "The fatigue must have built up. It seems they have taxed themselves."

"Aha," the two lower-rank officers said, slightly nervous, before turning away to mutter together once again.

"It's only natural. The research files they worked so hard to decode turned out to be so…" the woman trailed off.

"It must have really hit them hard. It makes me sick just thinking about it," the sergeant said.

Armstrong suddenly turned around. "What are you two whispering about?"

"N-nothing," they both replied.

Armstrong once again threw off his shirt. Flexing his muscles, he towered over the two as he bellowed, "HOW SUSPICIOUS!"

Ross and Broth yelped.

Up in their dark, unlit room, the Elrics were doing absolutely nothing. Edwina was lying across the couch with Alphonsa sit cross-legged behind it.

"Nee-san, go eat breakfast," Alphonsa said, breaking the long silence, only broken by the air-conditioning fan, that had started ever since the older girl had awakened. "You need to keep your strength up."

"I don't want anything. I'm not hungry," she replied. "…I'm tired of this."

"Me too," the armour girl agreed.

The older girl expanded her automail arm into the air, spreading her fingers. "It's like…just when I start to reach out, thinking it's just within my reach, it escapes me. It keeps going on like that." She clenched her metal hand into a fist. "And this time, when I feel like I finally got a hold on it, I'm knocked down by what I caught, and this time, I wish it had once again escaped." She laid her arm across her forehead as she gave a laugh. "Looks like God hates those who break His rules."

"Are we…going to live the rest of our lives like this?" Alphonsa worriedly asked, her eye sockets devoid of light. Her sister did not reply, instead going onto a different subject.

"Hey, Al?"

"Yes?"

"There's something I've always wanted to tell you…something I was too afraid to say."

"What is it? I won't get angry or anything if it's bad."

"It's "

"No, please! They're still resting!" Ross's voice came from outside the room.

"Huh?" the two girls said.

"ELRIC SISTERS, ARE YOU INSIDE? IT IS I, CAN YOU OPEN THE DOOR?"

The girls immediately recognised the booming voice accompanied with loud knocking.

"Nee-san, what do we do," the younger quietly teenager asked. The previous conversation could wait.

"Ignore him! Ignore him!" Edwina muttered back while mentality cursing the man. She had been so close to telling her sister what she had finally plucked up the courage to tell. It was too late now. Armstrong pulled the whole door handle off in his effort to open the door.

"I HAVE COME, EDWINA ELRIC!"

The sisters screamed. Ross and Brosh arrived behind him.

The major started to cry a stream of tears once again. "What a tragedy! To think that the Philosopher's Stone would hide so horrible a secret! It is a grave situation if this hell-like research was committed by an organization under the Military! I cannot allow this to pass by doing nothing!"

After a few confused, processing moments, Armstrong's words hit Edwina. She turned to the other two soldiers in the room, her expression furious.

"What did you two say?" she hissed.

"Now, Nee-san," Alphonsa said. "There's no need to be _that_ angry."

"I'm sorry," the short-haired woman told her nervously, raising her hands in defence.

"When a guy that annoying and threatening gets as close as he, we have to talk," the sergeant said in an equality afraid tone, than suddenly his expression changed to curiosity as his eyes were drawn to something else. "Your arm is artificial?"

The Elric sisters sprang to their excuse. It was their time to be nervous.

"Eh…I lost it during the East Area civil war," the Fullmetal Alchemist said, a false smile plastered on her face.

"Yeah…that's why we need the Philosopher's Stone, to restore her body," the armour-alchemist added.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Brosh said. "It's bad that it had to turn out this way."

"Sometimes the truth can be cruel," Armstrong chipped in; his hand back to rubbing his chin with his other hand supported his elbow.

Edwina's eyed widened slightly as she realised something. "The truth…"

"What's wrong, Nee-san?" Alphonsa asked.

"Do you remember what Mr. Marcoh said, Al?"

"When?"

"You know, at the station. 'The truth behind the truth'…" she cupped her own chin, hiding her mouth. "I get it, there's something else…something…" Looking up, she turned to the three soldiers and instructed them to fetch a map of Central City. The map was spread out on the table in the room. The five people gathered around it.

"There are currently four locations within Central that are alchemic research institutes for the Military," Armstrong explained and they looked down at the map, Edwina most intensely. "Among the four locations, the third one is the own Dr. Marcoh worked for. This one is the most suspicious."

"Yeah…I passed though all of them after I got my National Licence. It didn't look like they were researching anything big and important," the Fullmetal Alchemist said, leaning closer to the map. Maria flicked through a file she had picked up. Suddenly, the blonde teenager pointed at something on the map.

"What's this building," she asked.

"Previously, that building used to be the fifth research institute. It is currently an unused, deserted building," Ross explained to the girl without diverting her gaze from the file. "However, due to the danger of collapse, entrance is prohibited."

"It's the one," the girl said in an almost-fierce voice. She moved her finger to one side of the laboratory. "There's a prison next to it."

"Nee-san, what are you thinking?" Alphonsa nervously asked.

"To make the Philosopher's Stone you need living humans as the raw materials…which means there's a place where they're supplied with raw materials," she cupped her chin once again. "Now that I think about it, the remains of executed death-row inmates aren't returned to their families. The public is told they're put to death on the gallows within the prisons. But what they don't know is that while they're still alive, they're secretly moved to the research institute. And over there, they're used for experiments for the Philosopher's Stone." She turned to face everyone.

"The inmates are the raw materials?" Ross said, her expression confused.

"Don't give me that look. Just explaining it makes me sick," Edwina replied angrily. Don't you think it's a suspicious that the closest facility is a research institute?"

"Considering that this is a prison, I wonder if this means the government has some involvement in it…" the light-brunette man said. "We don't know whether the ones involved are warden level or governmental lever…"

"Somehow I feel like we poked our noses far too into something bad," the Second Lieutenant stated.

"That's why Nee-san told you to act like you didn't hear anything," Alphonsa scolded.

The Strong-Arm Alchemist folded his arms. "However, that is ultimately speculation at present. The nation may have no connection to this. This research organization may have acted independently."

"Yeah," Edwina said.

Alphonsa suddenly stood up, her hands on the table, making her sister jump. "Who's in charge of this organization?"

"That would be the 'Iron Blood Alchemist', Brigadier General Basque Grand."

"Then we'll try talking to this Brigadier General Basque and "

"You cannot," the Major said, cutting across the older Elric. "He was killed by Scar the other day."

Edwina also stood up, her eyes widening.

"Many State Alchemists afflicted with the higher rankings of the military were killed by Scar. Among those that were killed, there may have been some that knew the truth." Armstrong picked up the map from the table and rolled it up. "Should there actually be anyone of high rank other than Brigadier General Grand involved in this research, then it is inevitable that this will become more complicated. I will probe into this matter further and inform you later." He stood up and tucked the map under his arm. "Second Lieutenant, Sergeant, you are to keep quiet on this matter!"

"Yes, Sir!" said soldiers said, saluting.

The major turned to the two youngest people in the room. As for you two, Elric sisters, you are to stay put!"

As the man turned his back to them and began to walk away, the Fullmetal Alchemist scowled at him. Armstrong spun around, as though having sensed the teenager's rudeness.

"YOU WERE THINKING OF SNEAKING INSIDE AND INVESTAGATING WERE YOU NOT?!" Armstrong asked the girl in his angry, bellowing voice. He moved closer them, making them both feel that small and powerless. "YOU WILL NOT! EVEN THOUGHT THERE MAY BE A WAY TO RESTORE YOUR BODIES AT THAT PLACE, A CHILD SHOULD DO SUCH DANGEROUS THINGS!"

"I get it! I get it!" Edwina cried, waving her arms.

Armstrong backed away slightly.

"We won't do anything dangerous like that," the girl said.

"We'll just wait for what the major has to report," Alphonsa squeaked, clasping her hands together, trying to look innocent.

"Good." the Major left.

That very night, the Elrics stunk out when Ross and Broth were not aware.

"Like hell we would stay there," Edwina said to her sister with a snigger as they ran though the dark, empty streets towards Laboratory 5. "It's our fault our bodies are like this."

"That's why it's our reasonability to find a way to restore them," Alphonsa asked as she clanked along behind her sister.

As they approached their destination, they slowed down, and when on the pavement opposite it, they stopped.

"Hmmm…" The Fullmetal Alchemist said quietly as she looked at the building and spied an armed soldier standing next to the gate leading into it. "A guard for an unused building, huh? Strange." They moved to the wall the of the research institute that was just around the corner from the entrance.

"We could make an entrance," Edwina whispered.

"No. The guard will stop us from the light from a transmutation," Alphonsa replied.

"Well, that leaves "

In perfect sync, the younger teenager made a foothold with her hands, on to which the older one stepped. The younger girl then flung her sister up and onto the wall surrounding the building they were beside. Edwina then unravelled some of the barbed wire fence she had barely missed, and threw it down for Alphonsa to climb. Not being to feel pain she climbed without a fuss despite her weight.

As she did so, Edwina said, "At times like these, I'm glad these aren't my normal limbs."

Alphonsa giggled, reaching the top of the makeshift rope. "Me too."

The two landed on the ground and walked the short distance to the entrance.

"Argh, it's tightly sealed," Edwina said in frustration when she saw the board and barded-wired covered doors. Then something else caught her eyes. It was an air vent. "Perfect!" she again received a leg-up from her sister, this time by climbing on her shoulders to reach it. She removed the covering and peered inside. "Looks like it continues all the way to the end." She climbed inside, only any to be in a crawling position. "Al, wait here."

"Not like I have a choice," Alphonsa replied, in an almost sad voice. Just like that, she was back to hating her armoured form.

"I'll only be gone for a little bit," Edwina tried to reassure her.

"I hope that, if I get my body back, I don't end up big like this," she said, sitting down, drawing her legs and wrapping her arms around them. Her sister left.

Little did the sisters know that something was indeed happening inside the laboratory. At first, there was no other noise but the _drip-drip-drip _of a tap. Then a voice spoke.

"Hey, Forty-Eight!" it called into the dark main room of the laboratory.

"What is it, Sixty-Six?" Forty-Eight, another male voice, responded in a disgruntled manner.

"We got some rare guests."

"Really? Do these ones look like they will provide some entertainment?"

"I'm not expecting much. They're two girls, a shorty with a flat chest and a piggy-freak in armour."

The constant between the voices was quite noticeable. The first sounded rough, with the other was smooth and almost solemn. However, both were hollow and slightly echoing.

"Freak'?" Forty-Eight said in the same disgruntled tone. "Of all people, _you're_ saying that?"

Sixty-Six laughed and moved the conversation forward. "Gehehe, I'll let you take the shorty." He slowly pulled out a large meat cleaver. "I'll mince up the piggy."

Meanwhile, the Fullmetal Alchemist was making her way through the air vent.

"This is more cramped than I thought," she said to herself in an annoyed manner as she crawled along. "But still…a normal-sized girl with a decent chest wouldn't fit thought. For once I'm glad my body is small " the girl yelped at what was coming out of her mouth. "I can't say that! I hate being small!"

She kept going until she saw another covering. She pushed it onto the floor (wincing at the clatter it made) and jumped from the vent onto the ground. Looking around, she saw the floor was filthy and covered with debris from the cracked ceiling and walls.

_There's enough light for me to see a little bit ahead,_ she observed. She went into her usual 'thinking pose' of her fist being against her mouth. "What did they mean by 'currently not in use." She paced up and down for a few moments. "…Bingo."

Back outside, Alphonsa was growing worried. "Nee-san's been gone a while…"

"Hyooo!"

Alphonsa tensed at the noise. Suddenly - with a slash and a whoosh - something tried to slice her with a cleaver. She quickly moved aside, just avoiding the blade. The newcomer landed on the floor.

"Wha..? Who are you?!" she demanded to know.

The younger Elric's assailant was a man dressed in a rather creepy suit of grey armour. It had a helmet resembling a skull, and a bushy white mane going down his back. The helmet had two horns, the number '66' painted on one side, and two sharp, canine teeth on each side of the mouth. He had dressed the armour in a tunic, the upper-right side of which was missing, apparently sliced off, revealing the armoured shoulder and upper arm underneath. He has tried a belt around his waist, and brown boots on the armour's two canine two on each side of the mouth feet. As well as the cleaver, he also held a short sword in his left hand. Like her, the man's eyes glowed though the eye sockets.

"For a big guy, you move fast. Your voice doesn't match your size. You sound like a ten-year-old little girl," the figure said as they pulled the cleaver of the ground. "You asked my name, so I'll tell ya. It's Number Sixty-Six! This is only the name I go by when I'm working, though. I got a real name, but you'll shriek when you hear it. I'll tell ya when I finish you off."

"…You're going to kill me?" the girl asked.

"Geh heh heh," the man laughed. "What? I'll take you apart, nice and neat. I do love chopping up girls." He crossed his sword and cleaver over one another. "Don't worry. Just scream."

Alphonsa readied herself for a battle.

Edwina, meanwhile, had reached the large, square, main room of the laboratory. She tensed when lights suddenly illuminated on the pillars in the room. She saw a huge Transmutation Circle with a cylindrical pedestal at its centre, in the centre of the room.

"What is this?" Edwina asked as she stepped onto the edge of the circle and looked around. "Is this what is used to transmute the Philosopher's Stone?"

"Correct."

The teenager's plait whipped in the air and she turned to her head to the source of the voice. What seemed to be a man dressed a suit of dark grey armour walked out from the darkness on the opposite side of the room. The man had dressed the armour in a torn white tunic, armoured boots, and metal shoulder pads. A piece of white cloth covered the mouth of the helmet. Another bit of fabric was attached to the back of the helmet and covered the neck. Instead of two eye-sockets, the helmet had a single shot, though which two glowing eyes looked. Like Alphonsa, the helmet had a long thin ponytail of white hair coming out of the top of the helmet. It was wielding a thin sword, more akin to a rapier.

"I don't know where a girl like you came from, but you seem like you want to learn about the Stone," the armour said as he came to a halt. "I am one of those left with the task to guard this place. For now, you can call me Number Forty-Eight." He slashed his sword in the air, and Edwina eyed it carefully. "I am ordered to remove all outsiders that enter. don't think badly of me, girl."

"Ditto," the girl replied. She clapped her hands together and placed the left one on automail. She alchemically created her favoured blade once more. "Don't feel bad about losing to a girl."

"Ho! So that's alchemy?" Forty-Eight observed. "Come on. Show me what you can do." He rushed at the girl, his sword ready to slash.

_He's fast!_ Edwina thought. She just managed to jump aside to avoid the blade - only to be sliced by another quick attack. Lucky, she blocked it with her automail arm, and only the shoulder and sleeve of her jacket were slashed.

Forty-Eight pulled back. "An arm made of steel right up to your shoulder, eh?" he said. "That just saved your life. However…" the man rushed forward to strike another blow. "My blade can cut through steel!"

"Don't joke around!" Edwina cried, blocking the blow with her own blade, causing a metallic clashing sound. "My mechanic will kill me if I break this again!" She blocked another blow, then took a few steps back and delivered a hard kick with her left foot, resulting in a loud _clang _and the man staggering back. Her eyes widened and suddenly the battle stopped. "Wait a minute! That sounded hollow." She suddenly grinned. "You couldn't be hollow on the inside can you?"

The now-revealed suit of armour straightened up and hoisted his sword onto his shoulder before saying, "I'm surprised. You found that out quickly."

"I spar a lot with someone like you," the teenager replied.

"Ho! So there's someone else like me on the surface."

"I can't believe this. There's another idiot besides me that would think about binding a soul onto a suit of armour."

"I will introduce myself once more," the armour man said. "The 'forty-eight' of my name is my death row number. When I was alive…if that's what it should be called. When I had a body of flesh, I was a killer called 'slicer' by the public. To the rest of the world, I was executed two years ago. The skills of the slicer were respected and used as raw materials for an experiment. Now I serve as the watch dog for this place."

Edwina's eyebrows lowered before she replied. "So, where's the seal that's the median between your soul and the armour?"

"Hm, so I didn't need to explain everything." He pulled one side of the cloth around the mouth of his helmet, allowing it to fall to the other side. He then lifted his visor. On the back of the inside of the piece of metal headgear, near the top of the neck, was a blood rune that bared a similarity to Alphonsa's seal. "I don't know much about alchemy. But, it seems the blood is connected to the soul. So, the iron inside the blood is synchronized to the metal of armour. Yes, this is my head's blood seal. Destroy this and you win."

"Well, that makes it a bit easier, doesn't it?" the girl rhetorically asked, an almost cocky grin on his face. "Thank for telling me your weak spot. You're a nice old man," she added sarcastically.

"Fuhaha, I'm the sort of person who likes to break the tension in a fight. And, for the record, I'm not an 'old man'," Forty-Eight replied, returning the visor and cloth to their original position."

"Since you're being so kind, you wouldn't mind letting me go like I am now…right?"

"Would a killer ignore and allow his prey, right in front of him, escape?" After that rhetorical remark, the armour man readied his sword. "Now, I will come at you!"

The two, the girl and the man, readied themselves and charged.

* * *

Hello, dear readers! I would have had this chapter up on the 15th of June, but due to having no internet for past few weeks (or months), that was not possible. It is a shame; it would have been a new record for how fast I can upload a new chapter :(. I limit myself to thirty days per chapter, and I do hate it when I go over that.

**This chapter and note is the first chapter I have posted in my new room, in my new house. I really thought I would be going to a completely different part of area, but it turns out that I was only moving a few streets down, to Blochairn, which is both a good thing and a disappointment. I am also right opposite the stairs, which I hate, and I do not even like being in an upstairs room anyway :(.** **My wardrobe is a big improvement. It is part of the room, has mirrored doors and enough room for clothing and a shoe rack (though I do not exactly have an extensive collection).** **Finally, I have a comfy shag rug, a new computer desk, even though I like the old one and a new chest of drawers (even though, again, I like the old one.**

**The house in general is much bigger than that of my previous one, and I am glad of that. There are even two bathrooms, one with a shower and another with a bath. For the few weeks or so, I had to sleep on my mattress on the floor, but I did not mind. It was not the first time.**

**Mum gave me a 'new-home' card.**

**Two sets of our neighbours are a gay couple, and I do not mind this in the slightest, though I worry if any homophobes live near them.**

**Now that my house is sorted out, I should be ok.**

**The final bit of news I have to share is bad. For me, it is very bad indeed. I got my exam results a few days ago. I got a C in RMPS, another C in Higher English and I failed biology. I cried. How pathetic. I cried about exam results. Laugh at me if you will. I cannot get in collage! What shall I do? I am an idiot as only idiots fail exams!**

**Anyway, I am off to sort some things (ok, alot of things) out and look at my many e-mails and messages.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

_**The Definition of a Human Being**_

"We've been had!"

Ross and Broth's expressions changed to anger as they saw that the hotel room was completely empty.

Ross rushed to the window and looked out into the street. "I thought it was too quiet."

"Oh nooooo…Major Armstrong is going to shout at us so much for not doing our job," Broth whimpered, tears threatening to fall.

The Second Lieutenant clenched her fists as she growled, "Those little punks! Why can't they think about things from our stand point?" She grabbed her coat and headed towards the door. "We're going!"

"Eh? Where to?" the lower-ranked man asked, confusedly following his partner.

"It's obvious, isn't it? The old fifth research institute."

* * *

Edwina blocked another slash. She stepped back and swung her own blade, only to also be blocked. She jumped as the sword connected with her metal shoulder - and was surprised that it had barely left a dent. She had suffered several small cuts, and was growing more and more tired.

_Huh? _She thought. _Something doesn't feel right. That reminds me! _

She remembered what Winter had said: _The steel you are using now has its chrome ratio raised, and is more rust-resistant. In exchange, its strength is lowered, so don't… _That was all she had heard.

"Ack!" she cried, swinging and missing once again as her opponent dodged. "I'm going to be in trouble if I don't end this soon!"

Forty-Eight closed in for another strike. Edwina back-flipped to get out of the way. As she was balancing on one hand, she felt the blade painfully slash into her arm, and saw blood burst of it as she landed on her feet. She ignored the pain and continued. The armour man closed in and stabbed downward, aiming for the girl's heart. However, this time the girl was one step ahead. She again flipped backwards, causing the blade to completely miss her and stab into the ground between her legs. She landed on her bottom.

"Booyah!" the teenager cheered in triumph at her 'cool' move.

"You're like a monkey," the sword-wielder commented.

"_What did you say?_" the teenager hollered.

"I'm happy to have a worthy and energetic prey. With your wounds and fatigue, I can see where this fight will lead. Your friend outside is probably being taken care of by my companion around now."

Edwina's head flew up, her eyes wide. "Al?"

"She can't come and save you."

Edwina's head returned to looking at the floor. "Is that companion of yours strong?"

"He is strong, though weaker than me."

"Ahaha," the girl suddenly laughed, pulling herself onto one knee and confusing her opponent. "Then I don't have to be worried." She slowly got to her feet and wiped blood from her chin, a confident grin back on her face. "Since way back, I've never won a fight I've gotten into with her, not even once."

Outside the institute, Alphonsa was using those very fighting skills Edwina had never won against. She delivered a punch to Sixty-Six's face, knocking him to the ground with a metallic thud.

"Son of a- you're good for a girl," he said as he got up. "But…" he rushed forwards and swung his cleaver down, missing. "Just!" Another missed swing. "Get!" Another one. "Sliced!" Yet another. "Piggy!" the armour girl leapt out of the way of the next one. "It won't hurt a bit!"

"Even if you say that," Alphonse began, blocking another attack and retaliating with own, which knocked the armour-clad male back a few paces.

"Well, you're lucked out now!" Sixty-Six yelled, and closed in - this time too fast for the girl. Alphonsa, in surprise instead of unable-to-feel pain as a hidden knife-blade stabbed into the front of her left elbow. "I'm going to get some roast shoulder of pork- huh?"

As he brought his cleaver down, it was blocked. He yelled in surprise as armour-and-leather hands slammed into his face, knocking his helmet clean off.

"Huh?" Alphonsa said, in her marital arts pose.

"You little cow," Sixty-Six hissed. "You knocked my head off."

"Your body is…"

Like herself and, unknown to her, Forty-Eight before him, he was but a soul in an empty suit of armour.

"Gehehehe, there's a little reason for that." He picked up his fallen helmet and placed it back on. "I'll tell you this old story." He straightened up. "Once upon a time, there was an old butcher named Barry who lived in Central City. Barry loved chopping and slicing up meat." the man's voice descended to a lower pitch. "But one night cows and pigs were not enough for Barry. He started to roam the city night after night…and sliced up people!" Sixty-Six raised his voice on the last work before lowing it again.

Alphonsa gasped. "That monster!"

"I'm not done yet. Eventually, Barry was arrested, but not before up to twenty-three people became his victims! He struck fear into the hearts of the citizens of Central. He was sent to the gallows, of course. All's well that ends well. This is one of the old stories that's been gong around."

"A pretty gruesome story at that," Alphonsa commented.

"Anyway, the truth is that old story doesn't stop there. What they say about Barry dying at the gallows is a story for the public."

The armour girl tensed.

"He avoided the death penalty on the condition of being a guardsman for a certain place." He raised his cleaver. Alphonsa began to realise what this armour-man was trying to explain. "However, he would lose his flesh body and have his soul bound to an iron body."

Barry gave another of his laughs. "Yeah, he's right in front of you! I'm Barry the Chopper!

The younger Elric was completely baffled. "…Who?"

"What do ya mean, 'Who?'" Barry cried.

"I was born in a town in a village in the East Area, so I don't know much about stories about famous murderers from Central."

"Ah! A hick!"

"I am not!"

"Ok, I get that you don't know me, but you have to have _some_ reaction to seeing my body, right? You're not acting right! Your supposed to shriek or scream, and cry 'gyaaa!' or 'waaaah!' or 'what the hell is with that body?'. But you stand there!"

The armour girl sighed. She lifted off her helmet.

"Gyaaa!" the serial killer shrieked and pointed. "What the hell is that body?"

"Oooh, I'm so hurt," the girl said sarcastically.

The armour man breathed a sigh of relief. "A fellow death row inmate? You had me shaking there. Not many girls are inmates, even less are children, you must've done something really-"

"I'm not a criminal either!"

"Oh? Then why are you like that?"

The younger Elric replaced her head onto her body. "There's a little reason for this. After my body was gone, my Nee-san transmuted my soul."

There was silence. Then, Barry laughed. "A sis? Gehehehe! I see, a sis!" He turned away from the girl for a little bit.

"What is it?" the again confused alchemist asked.

"Geh yah yah yah ya!" He turned back to the girl. "Sorry, sorry. Anyway, do you trust your sister?"

"Of course I do," Alphonsa replied. "She put her life on the line to transmute my soul."

"Ah the love between sisters is truly a beautiful thing," Barry said with his arms spread, before his voice took a cynical tone. "…Even if it is fake."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean about whether you two really are sisters."

In her mind, Alphonsa's expression became angry. "Well, our personalities are really different. Contrasting almost. And they say I'm taller than my Nee-san even though I'm the younger sibling, but-"

"No, no. I don't mean that." He put a finger to his head. "What would you do if your personality and memories were artificially created by your sister?"

Inside her mind, the teenager's eyes widened before she said, in a slightly high voice, "Th-there's no way that can be true!" She pointed at herself. "I am definitely a human being named Alphonsa Elric. I have a soul to prove that!"

"Haha haha haha ha!" cackled her opponent. "What the hell is a 'soul'? How do you prove that something that can't be described exists? Your sister, the people around you, everybody's probably tricking you, eh?"

"Then what about you? Where's the proof that the person _you _were talking about really existed?" Alphonsa demanded back. "Where's the flesh?"

"Freeze! Entrance here is forbidden!" The two turned around to the soldier who had been guarding the entrance standing there, his rifle pointed in the younger Elric's direction, having finally detected her presence. "Leave immed-"

"Shaddup!" Barry cried and drove his cleaver into the side of the man's head, sliced the top have off. Blood exploded from the lower half of the head, and the body crumpled to the ground. Mentally, Alphonsa covered her mouth. "'Then what about you' was it?'" He stepped a foot forcefully into a pool of the soldier's blood, causing droplets to spray out. "It's simple!" He sliced the dripping cleaver down. "I love cutting the meat of living people! There ain't nothing better for me than killing!" he raised a hand. "_I kill, therefore I exist! This is the proof that I exist! I'm satisfied with just that!_"

Meanwhile, on the inside, Forty-Eight was saying, "Even if your sister defeats my companion and heads towards here, this building is built like a maze. I'm surprised you made it through. Even if she does arrive here, she would waste a great deal of time."

"…And your point is?" the Fullmetal Alchemist asked. Suddenly she yelled, "_Al, do it now!_"

Forty-Eight whipped around. "When did she-" There was no one there. He turned his head back to see his opponent rushing towards him, her blade drawn back. "A trick!" Before he could react, the girl delivered a powerful slice, disconnecting the armour man's helmet from his body. "How cowardly…" he said to the girl as his head soared through the air and his body crashed to the ground.

"There's no such thing as being cowardly in a fight," she replied.

She stood up straight and walked away, wiping her mouth once again as Forty-Eight's metal body and helmet crashed to the ground. With her back still to her defeated challenger, she placed her left hand on her automail, and returned to normal. "Time to move on…" she said, turning back around.

"You are a good fighter, but you haven't destroyed my blood seal yet," the armour man stated. "Hurry up and destroy-" The girl swiftly strode over and picked the man up by the long thin ponytail of white hair coming out of the top of his helmet. "Ah!"

"Because your soul is in here," the female alchemist said, holding the helmet up to her face. "The body is just a lump of steel if I detach the head. Besides, there's something I want to ask you."

"About the Philosopher's Stone?"

"Spill your guts on what you know."

"I can't tell you."

Edwina shook the object in her hand, "Hey, the loser isn't supposed to resist."

He laughed. "_I haven't lost yet!_"

A blade sliced into the teenager's side, causing the girl to cry out in pain and turn around, dropping the head of Forty-Eight. "That's impossible!"

The body of Forty-eight, sword raised, was standing there, completely headless yet completely active. The girl fell to her knees. The body of armour walked up to its head.

"There doesn't have to be just one soul in a suit of armour," the body said, its voice a younger sounding one than the head.

"I forgot to tell you, the killer named 'Slicer'…was a pair of brothers," the head, the older brother, said.

"Separate souls for the body and head…" the girl said through gritted teeth, holding her side and trying to ignore the pain. "That's cheating!"

"Who was the one who said there's no such thing as cowardice in a fight?" the older brother asked.

"Yeah! Our main job is to get rid of any outsiders that get inside. Don't take it personality," the younger brother added, before raising the sword sideways and gripping it with both hands. "Now, let's start round too, you tiny prawn!" Edwina stood on shaky legs, trying to summon some strength. She knew that, with her latest injury, she would not last long, but did not stop the flare of anger at the statement as she staggered to her feet and stood on jelly-feeling legs. "But before that, I'll tell you where my blood seal is just my brother did," he pointed the inside the body, at the top of the back. "Alright, my blood seal is right here! Aim right for it and destroy it shorty! But, going by your shaky stance, looks like you won't be able to!"

"Don't…" she gasped, and clapped her hands together. "Don't underestimate me!"

The younger Slicer charged. "I'm not going to give you time to transmute!"

He was correct. Edwina just managed to jump out of the way of a large swipe.

_I really am shaky, _she thought worriedly. _I've lost too much blood._

Suddenly, the younger Slicer was right in front of her and he punched the hilt of the blade into the laceration on her side.

"Gah!" she yelled and lurched backwards, stumbling in pain.

_This is really bad, _she thought, her teeth gritted again. _Am I going to die here?_ _Die…? Die…? _She hit one of the rectangular pillars, almost to her relief, and she leaned heavily against it. _Die! _This time, it was not her voice she heard, but a memory of something else's: Scar. She saw him readying his right hand to attack in her mind. "Ah, shit!" The younger Slicer was rushing towards her again. She raised her hands to clap them again.

"I told you I wouldn't give you time to transmute!" the younger serial killer bellowed to the girl as he closed in, the sword raised. "IIRYAAAA!"

In her mind, Edwina saw Scar raising his hand to strike.

"Ah, I just remembered that horrible guy," she said to herself.

She raised her hand in a similar manner to Scar, her expression also similar. She ducked out of the sword, which become stuck in the wall and pinned the younger serial murderer in place. She thrust her hand out against the body of metal, concentrating hard. She let out something between a cry and a scream as a great amount of alchemic lightning surged forth from her hand - and blasted the body of armour in half.

"Incredible," the older brother commented from the floor as the light faded.

"Yes…" she cheered weakly. "It worked…" She slumped down the wall onto her bottom, holding her injured side. "Shi…" she had to catch her breath. Blood formed a line down one side of her face, mingling with sweat, and she wondered how she had obtained the head injury

"Dammit!" the younger Slicer brother shrieked. "You really screwed me up you damn brat!" His voice lowered to one that was almost sad. "Onii-san…we lost…"

"Yeah. This is pitiful, but we lost, little brother," the older of Forty-Eight responded.

"You're not going to say, 'There were really three brothers' or something like that, are you?" the girl nervously asked.

"No, no," the younger brother said.

"Hmph. Good job, girl. This time you really did win. This is an embarrassment, losing to a girl."

"I almost lost…Ok, _now_, tell me everything you know about the Philosopher's Stone."

"I can't tell you. Now destroy us and get lost!"

The blonde closed her eyes. "Spare me the role of being a murderer."

"You're being too soft. How can you call us human when we have these bodies? I'm not telling you to kill us, I'm telling you to destroy us."

She opened her eyes again, her expression almost angry. "That'll mean I'll be saying my little sister isn't human."

Something changed within the older Slicer brother. "A little sister…that was she was talking about…"

"My little sister is a human being, and you guys are too. I don't want to kill you."

The brothers laughed.

"That's amusing!" the younger said in-between them. "From since we could tell right from wrong, we brothers stole, destroyed and killed. We were labelled as outcasts, savages, and thus lived."

"To be treated like human beings for the first time ever after throwing away our bodies rather than our hearts…"

The girl hoped the older Slicer might be more grateful.

"Fuhahaha! That's amusing! Girl, you said you wanted to know about the Stone-"

"Onii-san, no! If you talk, we'll be punished!"

The older serial killer ignored his little brother's plea. "Girl, I'm giving a farewell gift. I'll tell you everything! But, as I said before, I don't know much about alchemy. I also know nothing of the Philosopher's Stone."

"_Huh?_" the girl cried. "_Then what's the point in talking? Did I go through all that for nothing?_"

"I don't know about the Stone, but I know of who made it. In other words, the ones who told us to guard this place.

"_Who are they?_"

"They are-"

Two thin, black sharp, blade-like objects suddenly pierced though the helmet, straight through the blood rune.

The blonde girl went on edge, her teeth clenched. She noticed the body of the armour had been stabbed as well, also though the blood rune,

"That was too close," said a seductive woman's voice. The blade-like objects slid out of the body, taking the head of Forty-Eight to the owner of them: the fingernails of a woman with wavy dark tresses, sharp facial features, and a black dress, long gloves and heels. "You mustn't blab too much, Forty-Eight."

"Oh my, why's the flat-chested Fullmetal Shrimp here?" asked another, higher-pitch voice that seemed to be between masculine and feminine. The person walked out of the darkness to join their partner. It was also dressed in black. It wore a midriff-revealing top, skirt with shorts underneath, a black headband with a red symbol on it. Fingerless gloves and heelless socks completed the outfit. It also had a slender, muscular build and wispy black hair. Both beings had strange, knob-like nodules and vein-tubes on their person.

"What to do in a situation like this?" Envy asked, a hand on its hip and a grin on its face.

* * *

**Author's Notes: Two chapters in one day, how good is that? I got this written and completed in a record eleven days! What is rather strange, this being chapter eleven. **

**Hence, this is why I have uploaded two chapters in one day.**

**The few weeks away also give me time to look through my previous chapters, change a few things (but nothing drastic, except that I have removed Winter from the scene where Edwina tells Alphonsa the Human Transmutation Circle is ready in Chapter 2) and look for any more typos. I think I found them all, and updated them before uploading these two chapters (I still have many other things to do).**

**I am sorry that these two chapters have not had very much original content, but how can you change a part of the story that mainly consist of battles?**

**Hope you enjoy it despite this, dear readers.**

**Thank you ^_^.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

_**Steel Body**_

"What a troublesome girl." Lust said. "How did you find out about this place?"

Suddenly, the older Slicer Brother made a noise, indicating he was somehow still alive. Neither his nor his brother's blood seals were fully destroyed.

"I didn't want anyone to see this, but I can't do anything about that now." Lust threw the helmet into the air and, as if it were butter, bisected it. She let the halves fall to the floor. The older Slicer was gone for good.

Envy walked over to and picked up the idle sword.

"Onii-san!" the younger Slicer screamed, sensing what had happened. "Onii-san! Onii-san!" He directed his next words at the homunculi. "Give me a body! Give me a body right now! Give me-" Envy stabbed the sword down into the armour body, straight through the blood rune. The man cut off his shouts with a strangled cry.

"Shut the hell up, nitwit!" Envy shouted, and thrust the sword down again into the rune. "You were going to kill an important sacrifice, huh?" It stabbed the blade down again. "You have _any_ what you're doing? Plus, you were going to tell her everything about us!" The younger Slicer silently stretched out a hand to Edwina as the blade came down repeatedly. "How do you plan on taking responsibility if the project gets held up? Say something!" The hand fell flat. "Ah?"

"Envy. He's already dead," Lust said firmly.

"Oh…" it stopped stabbing. "What a wimp." It threw its arms up. "Really, I hate it when they're weak."

It hoisted the sword onto its shoulder before walking over to Edwina, a pseudo-welcoming smile on its face. It crouched down, using the sword to lean.

"How do you do, Fullmetal Shrimp?" it greeted in a falsely cheery voice. "I'm impressed that you made it this far." It reached out and pattered the girl's head. Her eyes narrowed. "Good job. But, since you did see something you shouldn't…" it stopped patting, its tone changed and the smile reverted to its usual malevolent grin as it leaned closer to the girl and hissed, "I guess I should kill you too."

For a moment, the girl's eyes widened.

"You…" she hissed, speaking for the first time since the homunculi had entered. She gritted her teeth, her eyes even more narrow, before slowly rising while still holding her side, a second wind brewing within.

"Oh?" a intrigued Envy said - before it had to bound out of the way of alchemist's kicking foot with a cry of, "Ah!"

The girl raised her metal fist, her face determined and furious.

"Oh my, the shrimp's getting violent," the genderless homunculus said. It rubbed the back of its neck as it added, "Aww, I don't like fighting. It really hurts."

The girl clapped her hands together. "Stop saying 'shrimp'! YOU'RE THE ONE THAT STARTED THIS, SO I'LL TAKE YOU OUT!"

_Clang!_

The girl's right arm fell limp.

"…Eh?" she said looking down at the limb. "What? _At a time like this? Why?_"

"Looks like an automail failure," the dark-haired woman observed.

"Yippee!" Envy cheered, raising his arm straight up with a smile.

Before she could react, Envy had run over to her, grabbed her by her plait, and kneed her in the chest. She coughed blood and tried to refill her winded lungs.

"I was joking about killing you," the fourth oldest homunculus whispered in the alchemist's ear before it dropped her limp form onto the floor.

"You sure are lucky, girl," Lust said in her smooth tone. "Don't forget, we're 'letting you live'."

For Edwina, her second wind had fizzled out and everything went black.

Lust turned to Envy as he crouched over the young alchemist. "Well then…we don't need to create a stone here anymore."

"Still, I wonder if it really is a good idea to let this kid live," Envy stated.

The woman's eyes also moved to focus on the motionless girl. "The fact that she found out about this place wasn't part of our calculations, but she can't do anything by just knowing how to create a Stone. After all, the project's already in its final stages…"

Alphonsa was still in shock. She remembered something her sister had said: _Hey Al…There's something I've always wanted to tell you…something I was too afraid to say._

_What was Nee-san trying to say? Something she was too scared to tell me…something she couldn't say… _the armour girl asked herself.

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the noise of a slashing blade, and with a yelp, she managed to block Barry's cleaver with her arm. After this, Barry suddenly stepped back, and simply stared at the girl.

"Well, what's wrong?" Alphonsa asked confusedly.

"Why'd you suddenly slow down?" Barry asked.

Alphonsa said nothing.

The amour man gave another of his spine-chilling laughs. "Your soul might be artificially created, but it don't look perfect to me! You're trembling at getting shaken up, huh?"

Barry went in for another strike.

"Sh-shut up!" the younger Elric cried, blocking him again. "I'm-" Another strike blocked.

"Just accept it," Barry said, as they quickly returned to their back-and-forth battle. "You'll feel better, right?"

"Damn!" the girl cried, as she was caught off-guard once again, allowing Barry to slice the cleaver blade into the side of her armour, causing her to stagger back.

"Gehahaha!" the former murderer cackled, raising his blade for the final blow. "You're wide open, piggy!"

_Oh no…_ the girl thought. _It can't end like this, not while I've got questions to ask… _She braced herself nonetheless.

_BANG-BANG!_

Two holes appeared in the armour man's hand, knocking his weapon out of his hand and onto the ground with a clatter. Alphonsa gasped as she saw the culprits, who stood a little way behind them. It was the Second Lieutenant and the Sergeant, their handguns pointed at the former murderer.

"Uh?" the armour man cried in surprise, looking at the damage to his hand.

"Don't move!" Ross commanded. "Next time, we'll aim for your head! Now calm down and hand over the person in the large suit of armour."

"Second Lieutenant Ross…" Alphonsa said, relived at her and her partner's arrival, but also worried that she and Edwina were going to be in big trouble.

"Who're you guys supposed to be?" Barry asked the soldiers after turning to them.

"We're the ones who were entrusted with the task of guarding that person," the black-haired woman replied.

"Ah shit…" the armour man raised his arms. "You escorts had to butt in just when it was getting fun." He rubbed his head. "But if you're here, then what happened to that guar- oh yeah, I sliced him, didn't it? Whoopsie."

"We saw," Brosh said. The guard's bloodied body was lying not too far from him and Ross.

Barry sighed and looked around at the people around him, the two soldiers and the armour-girl. "This has become a pain in the ass."

_Zu zu zu zu zu!_

Brosh whirled around at the sudden noise. "What's that noise?"

Suddenly, there was a loud _boom!_ and dust and cracks blasted out from the laboratory building.

"Wha?" cried Barry.

"What the?" cried Alphonsa.

The soldiers shielded their eyes.

"An explosion?" Ross shouted, throwing out one of her arms. "Sergeant! We have to evacuate!" She looked around to see her partner moving, but Alphonsa standing completely still. "What are you doing? Run away!" Suddenly the girl started to run - towards the building, dodging flying debris. "Nee-san's still-!"

"Wai-" the short-haired woman moved in front of Alphonsa and grabbed her arm while blocking her path. "Where are you going?"

"Nee-san's still in there!" the younger Elric franticly replied. "Let go of me! I've got to save her!"

"Don't be stupid! You'll be buried alive!"

"…Hmmm…this would mean that happened…" Barry muttered to himself. Seizing the chance, he turned and ran, heading for the exit gate. "Time for me to make a straight get-away!"

"Hey, hold it!" Brosh said, spinning around and pointing his gun at the fleeing criminal. He was almost out of range.

"You guys better run away fast or else you'll get caught up in that!" Barry yelled as he raced away, laughing as he did so.

"Damn!" the sergeant cried. He had a point.

Meanwhile, Alphonsa had lost her balance in her struggle to get away from Ross. "Nee-san…Nee-san is…"

"Think about getting out of here first!" the girl's female escort cried, tugging at her charge with all her might.

Suddenly, from out of the dust thrown up around the building, a figure emerged. It was a strange man in black clothing with wispy black hair and an almost-feminine body - and 'he' was carrying someone.

"Howdy, y'all," Envy greeted as it walked. "I've come to drop off some baggage."

Alphonsa stopped struggling and Ross gasped.

"Nee-san?" the younger Elric cried.

Envy put the girl down on the ground and Ross immediately moved over to her, lifting her into her arms.

"She's not in any danger of dying," Envy explained. "But she lost a bit of blood, so put her in a hospital as soon as possible." It placed its hands on its hips, looking unimpressed. "You guys got to do a better job of looking after her, so she doesn't go anything dangerous. She's previous material, you know."

"Second Lieutenant Ross, what are you doing? Hurry up!"

The female soldier turned to see her partner rushing towards her. She was confused, she did not understand what the strange man had said, and she have liked to think it over, but she had to get her and her partner's charges to safety.

"Sergeant!" she called. "Give me a hand!"

"How did she get hurt so badly?"

"Save that for later!" she turned to the mysterious man. "You get away too-" Envy was no longer there. "Eh? He's gone." If only she knew who 'he' really was.

"What are you two doing?" the light-brown haired soldier, Edwina on his back, demanded to know. "Let's go!"

"Right…" Ross said. She wanted to look for the strange man, but the piles of debris falling around were getting bigger and bigger.

As the trio raced out of the gate, the whole building finally and loudly gave way, and they barely avoided being crushed.

Meanwhile, Barry, standing a safe distance from the laboratory on a flight of stairs, watched as the building turned to rubble.

"Damn…they really over did it," he thought aloud. "Abandoning this place means they have no use for us, huh? Wonder if Forty-Eight's dead." He sighed. "No use in going back to their base just to get trashed…I'll enjoy the rotten air of this world a little bit." He walked off.

Meanwhile, in the prison next to the institute was in an uproar, something no one at the laboratory had seemed to notice.

The prisoners were reaching though their bars and screaming about the collapsing building next to them, saying that they would be killed if they were not let out.

One of the guards was trying to contact to the watchtowers to see what was happen while trying this best to ignore the cries, bangs, and shouts around him as he bellowed into intercom. "Watch towers! Give me a status report!"

"The nearby research institute is caving in!" A watchman finally yelled back. "It doesn't look like there will be any damage here, but…"

Back in the main cell area, the guard had had enough of the bangs and cried of "Let us out!" and screamed, "Shut up you idiots!"

In another part of the prison, another guard was thinking aloud. "Is that an earthquake? We don't get _these_ very often."

"Such a pleasant sound isn't it, Mr. Jailer?" a smooth, eerily calm voice which floated from cell twenty-nine, whose occupant sat in the dark room, his hands bond in wooden stocks. "Ah, the sound of a building collapsing from the use of an explosive. Yes, such a pleasant sound. A very pleasant sound that resonates though out the depths of the body."

"Quit the mumbling, Kimblee," the guard told the man.

"How rude of me," the prisoner replied, rising his hands. There was an identical Transmutation Circle, consisting of a dot inside a circle, that was in turn inside a triangle, which was all held in a another circle, on each of his palms. "It's just that it brought back fond memories of the Ishval Annihilation Campaign."

"I don't want to hear about it," the prison officer told him.

Oh well, it still is a very pleasant sound." Kimblee started to hum.

The guard was relived of listening to Kimblee when another of the prison officers came along.

"The research institute seems to be crumbling, but it doesn't look like it'll affect us," he said.

"Really?" the other guard said.

The other man suddenly noticed Kimblee's humming. "What the? He sure is in a good mood to be humming."

"Hmph! That bastard is getting all giddy from hearing all the noise." That crazy arsonist Kimblee."

Inside the cell, Solf. J. Kimblee was grinning as the building reduced to rubble.

* * *

Edwina had finally awoken - and had no idea where she was. The last thing she remembered was a man with wispy black hair standing over her in Laboratory Five. She suddenly noticed someone had changed her clothes into a soft, light blue, sleeveless top and trousers and taken her hair out of its plait. However, that person was nice enough had left the bobble on the bedside cabinet. She put her hair up in a ponytail (which was quite tricky with only one hand) and as she did so, she noticed there were bandages wrapped around her head and flesh wrist.

Her head flicked towards the double-doors of the room as they opened. Sergeant Brosh popped his head through.

"Ah! Miss. Edwina!" he said upon seeing she was awake. "You've finally woken up."

He entered the room along with Ross and moved to the girl's bedside.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"This is a hospital belong to an acquaintance of Second Lieutenant Ross," Brosh explained. "We thought it wouldn't be a good idea to place you in a Military hospital, as we would be questioned a bit."

"You can recover in peace here," Ross added.

The girl felt a pain in her side. "Ah that hurts." _It must be a stab wound. _She reached her flesh arm to her forehead in frustration. "And I was so close to learning the truth…there isn't time to be hospitalized!"

The two soldiers looked at each other. Suddenly, they stood rigidly straight.

"_Fullmetal Alchemist, Ma'am!_" Ross hollowed.

"_Please excuse us for what we will do next!_" Brosh hollowed.

"Huh?" the girl said in utter confusing.

_Smack!_

Edwina's head was snapped to the side by the force of the Second Lieutenant's hand across her face.

"_Major Armstrong told you so many times not to act on your own, but you then did it anyway!_" she screamed, as if the young State Alchemist was a naughty child while jabbing her finger at her. "_Even when he told you to stay at the inn patiently, because it was dangerous! And on top of ignoring the major's kindness, you almost died?_"

The girl simply stared in bewilderment, her cheek red and burning.

"The first thing you need to do is recognise you're still children!" Ross went on to say.

"Yes, yes," added the light-brown haired man.

"Next, don't try to do everything by yourselves! Please trust the people around you…can't you put more faith in us adults? That is all!"

Edwina looking away, sitting still and silent.

"_Please forgive us for our violent actions and words unbefitting of that off officers of a lower rank!_" the two soldiers said in unison, again standing bolt upright.

Edwina began to feel guilt creeping into her emotions.

"Ah…no…I'm the one…who's at fault," she said sheepishly.

"And the punishment for the slap?" the black-haired woman asked.

"No, no, I won't do anything," she told them.

They both gave a great sigh of relief.

"Why are you two so worried?"

"Even though State Alchemists aren't regular soldiers, they possess a status equivalent to that of Major. We could be fired at a single word of you," Ross explained

"You don't have to be so nervous. I didn't get a national licence because I wanted status in the military."

Even more relieved, the two soldiers broke into smiles.

"And you don't have to talk so formally to a so-called kid."

"Oh really?" Ross said.

Brosh rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, the thing is that it was really annoying to talk to someone younger than me like that, you know?"

_That's some fast adapting, _Edwina thought to herself, then suddenly realised something. "Where's Al?"

"I slapped her as well," Ross said seriously.

"And I gave the lecture," Brosh stated.

"My hand ended up quite sore," Ross added. "It's fine now, though. It stopped hurting a little before you woke up."

Edwina laughed. "Well, she's pretty hard! Ahahaha-" she paused in her laughter as it made her side throb. "Ow-haha-ow-haha-ow…haha…" She suddenly stopped. "Oh…there's one more thing left where I'm going to have to deal with a lot of shouting…" she looked at her two confused escorts. "Is there a phone in here?"

She was taken to a phone in the hall, her automail arm in a sling, and after sitting on bench next to it, she dialled the number.

Sitting on his work-bench while constructing a leg, Winter answered the phone.

"Hello?" he said. "Yes, this is Rockbell, the prosthesis mechanic," Winter said.

"Hey, Winter, it's me."

The boy immediately recognised the voice on the other end. "What do you want, now, Ed? It's rare that you call."

Pinako also looked up.

"You see…" Edwina just decided to come straight out with it. "You see, my right arm broke, and there's a little reason why I can't go back to there now. Can you come to Central?"

"'Come over to Central?'" Winter echoed in a loud voice. "And how did you break it this time?"

"Well, I can move the fingers, but the arm won't move at all. It feels like my shoulder has gone out of whack," the girl responded.

"I see, so it _was_ broken," the mechanic said in a suddenly low voice.

"Huh?"

"Oh no, I was just talking to myself. So, did you carry something heavy or swing your arm around more than you had to?"

Edwina paused for a moment. "I got into a big fight."

She had to pull the phone back to an arm's length to protect her ears as Winter screamed: "AGAIN? HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU THAT IT WOULD BREAK IF YOU USED IT LIKE A MANIAC?"

Suddenly, as if someone had pulled a switch, Winter went quiet.

"Hm?" Edwina put the phone back to her ear, only to be greeted by more silence. "Um…hello? Winter?"

"…It can't be helped," Winter said calmly, having remembered his previous mistake. "Where in Central?"

Edwina of course, had no idea of why Winter was now calm, and was slightly disturbed, her eyes wide. "Huh?"

The boy sighed. "I'm saying I'll go down to wherever you are to do some maintenance. Where should I go?"

"You're acting unusually nice today," the alchemist suddenly said. "Are you saving up your yelling and wrench-throwing energy for when you're here?"

"I'm always nice!" the boy snapped back. He was twiddling with the certain object that had plagued him since finding it.

"Suuure…anyway, I'll fill you in on the details when I can call again."

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry." He hung up before Edwina could ask the reason for his apology. She replaced the phone in its holder.

"Calling your boyfriend, are we?"

Edwina leaped with fright. She whirled around to see Brosh standing next to her. Before she could respond to the Sergeant's remark, she felt a sharp pain in her side and something oozing down it.

"Ah! Her wound!" the light-brunette soldier cried.

"This is bad!" a passing nurse cried, as she came up to the scene. After stitches and bandages had been placed on her cleaned wound, Brosh began to return her to her room in a wheelchair, much to her annoyance. However, at least now she was able to address the man's 'mistake'.

"Ok, listen carefully," Edwina told the soldier in a stern voice. "Winter is _not_ my boyfriend. He is a childhood and good friend, and that's it."

"Oh," Brosh replied. "Don't you want a boyfriend?"

"I'm fine without one!"

"When I was your age…" Brosh began as he pushed the teenager's wheelchair down the corridor, only to be interrupted by the girl saying, "Oh!", causing him to look in the direction she was looking. Alphonsa was sitting quietly on a bench in a dark side corridor.

"Al…What are doing in that corridor?" Edwina asked her little sister, to which there was no response. The older alchemist called a little louder. "Al! Heeey!"

The armour girl's helmet quickly turned, having heard her this time. "Nee-san."

"Don't just stay over there. Why don't you come to my room?" the older Elric suggested. Alphonsa looked away, again not replying. "Hm? Is something wrong?"

"Never mind," The younger Elric finally replied, and stood. "I'll be going now. I need some time alone."

"Oh…" the golden-eyed girl had never seen the younger female acting so strangely. "I'll go on ahead." Brosh pushed her away.

Alphonsa proceeded to a nearby bathroom, and looked at her armoured form in a mirror. As she did so, she went over Barry the Chopper's words: _What would you do if your personality and memories were artificially created by your sister?_

She placed a hand on the mirror, cracking it, and continued to think.

* * *

**Author's Notes: We are back to only chapter at a time now. By the way, you know how I had Edwina's hair loose when she regained consciousness? Well, that is because I wondering how on earth Edward's hair went from a plait to a ponytail. I mean, why would someone change his hairdo while he was unconscious?**

**Guess what? It was my eighteenth birthday on the first :).**  
**Here is how it went:**  
**For presents I got some more new perfume, a special key that you keep in the box (it is based on a tradition that one would be given a key to the house aged eighteen), and a new nail-filer (which looks quite lethal to be honest). I opened these presents around midnight (since I was still awake). Later on I opened the rest: a Nintendo 3DS with "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time" (I felt like I was 10-years old again, playing that), and "Resident Evil: Mercenaries". I finally I got a nice pair of black, low baseball boots, and a nice, smart suit. It came with a little bow tie XD. I will be getting a red or purple (I think they go well with black) tie as well. However, there was one problem: the trousers just did not fit at all, and had no belts loops, even though it was a petite size (shows you how hard it is for me to get clothes that fit) Mum has to take them back to be adjusted.**  
**I went out to the cinema for my first Eighteen-rated film ("Final Destination 5". It was ok). After which I went to have a nice meal of pizza (it was a nice day :)). I was wearing not my usual outfit. Usually I wear a hoodie, t-shirt, jeans (skinny or not), a black belt with star print, and my one pair of baseball boots or suede boots. That day, I still wore a t-shirt and my favourite dark blue skinny jeans (I have a black pair too), and the belt. but instead of a hoodie, I wore the suit jacket, and instead of the usual shoes I wore the new baseball boots. I loved how they matched :).**

**It was Tam's (my mum's boyfriend) birthday yesterday, and mum and I have bought him a digitally re-mastered box side of the First series of "Star Trek" (I am a Picard fan all the way! I hate Kirk! And I loved Rachel too!).**

**Have any of you checked out my "Fullmetal Alchemist" OC drabbles? I really want some feedback.**

**I hope you enjoy it, viewers.**

**Thank you ^_^.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

_**The Feelings of an Only Child**_

"Urg," Winter groaned as he stepped down onto the platform at Central and heaved a large bag over one shoulder. He rubbed his bottom as he walking along the packed platform. "My butt hurts. Those girls sure get on these trains a lot. How do they manage to sit on them, even when they're like this, for that long?"

Before he had left for the train station in Rizenbul, Winter had washed and changed his clothes. He now wore a plain, white, sleeveless tank top, black trousers, and a matching black, hip-length jacket that had a stand-up collar and lacked buttons. He wore tough, black, laced boots on his feet. He had also brushed his hair, which he had left loose.

"Just like everyone says about Central. There's so many people," he observed as he squeezed his way through the crowds. "Ed said 'you'll find out when you see the landmark at the west gate.' The landmark…" Suddenly he spotted an impossibly tall man, towering at least two metres, clad in a military uniform. People passing him looked almost scared as they took him in. He was Winter's landmark.

"Major Armstrong!" Winter paused and called, waving a hand in the air.

Spotting the boy, the Strong-Arm Alchemist made his way over to him. When he reached Winter, he stopped and saluted.

"I should say thank you for the time at Rizenbul," he told the young mechanic.

"No, no. Thank _you _for taking care of those stupid Elric sisters," the mechanic replied. "But how come Ed can call me and not pick me up herself?"

"It is not her fault," Armstrong replied as they resumed walking, this time side-by-side. "At the moment she cannot move."

"What do you mean, 'she cannot move'?" the boy asked in a worried tone.

"Hmmm…how should I say it…she has been admitted at a-"

"'Admitted?'" Winter's tone became ever more worried as he stopped. "Oh I see…she's been put in a juvenile detention centre for committing so many crimes…"

Armstrong quickly raised a hand. "Not at that sort of place."

"Huh…" realisation dawned on him. "You mean a hospital?"

Elsewhere in Central City, Hughes was blathering on to a certain East City officer for the umpteenth time. "…Because my daughter's going to be three-years-old!"

Hughes was a tall and lean man with a thin chinstrap of scruffy beard and black, jovially spiky hair ending in a characteristic forelock. He adjusted his rectangular glasses that framed his hazel eyes as he spoke.

"Lieutenant Colonel Hughes," Mustang tried to quieten her friend for the umpteenth time. "_I am busy at work right now! _And I am not 'settling down' until I'm Führer, and even then, I still might not believe in the 'parent myth'!"

Everyone in the office turned to look at the Colonel for a moment as she made her latest outburst before returning to their work.

_You could always just hang up…_ Hawkeye thought.

"Fancy that. I'm busy at work too," Hughes replied to the woman. "It's just that she's so cute every day!"

"I get it! So don't call me all the time to brag about your daughter! _In particular_,don't call me with relationship advice! I don't need it! And finally, don't use a Military line to do so!"

"But I'm proud of my wife too, and you need the advice! You've been out with so many men, but you've never one you'd stick with. Remember what I said about the Lieu-"

"Hm, I wonder if there's a way to fry a person over the phone with alchemy…"

"Oooh, that Flame Alchemist's scaring me. She's so fierce," a police officer commented. "Oh yeah, speaking of alchemy, what's the low-down on Scar?"

"He hasn't being found yet," Havoc told the officer, taking his cigarette out of his mouth to speak. "As it was a very large explosion, many unidentified bodies have been found. He might be among those."

"There have being no witness reports in the East Area, so the general consensus is that he's dead," Mustang told Hughes, hoping to get him onto a more important subject."

"So we can cut loose the Elric sisters' guards?" Hughes asked. It had worked.

"Yeah, since they're in Central, I'll leave that discretion of the brass there," the woman replied.

"The brass at Central, eh?" the glasses-clad man responded. "Scar knocked out some of the higher-ranking in charge of the State Alchemists, so there's a shortage in personnel."

"Oh really…"

Hughes lowered his voice. "There's a rumour that a certain Colonel Mustang is about to be assigned to Central."

The raven-haired woman smiled. "Central, eh? That isn't bad."

"Be careful. Getting too far into the upper ranks at this age means you'll be making more enemies."

"I am prepared for that."

"But sure to get at least _one_ person who will understand and support you." There was a moment of silence. "So hurry up and get married. Gracia loves it."

The Flame Alchemist lost it.

"_Don't be ridiculous!"_ she screamed, throwing the phone back down in its holder.

Hawkeye could no longer keep silent. "Colonel, please be quiet when you're talking on the phone."

On the other end of the line, the receptionist sitting at the desk next to wall where the phone was, spoke. "Lieutenant Colonel Hughes, were you bragging about your family on the phone again?"

"What? Are you jealous too?" Hughes said, peering around the wall while rubbing the back of his head.

The receptionist's expression was one of being unimpressed.

"My daughter's going to be three. Wanna see a picture of her? Wanna see it?" Hughes asked the woman in an almost frantic tone.

"No, I do not!" the woman cried back sternly, and returned to the paper she was writing. "Please don't use a military phone line to have a private conversation. It's embarrassing to listen." The Lieutenant Colonel was not listening, as he was busy looking at yet another picture. "You'll get a pay cut if the phone's been tapped by the higher ups!" Hughes was now walking away.

"My love can't be stopped be the likes of a pay cut!" he said before letting out a laugh. Suddenly he stopped. "Ah." He against raised a hand to rub his head again. "I forgot to tell Roya that Edwina's been hospitalised." He started walking again. "Oh well…"

* * *

"NO WAY!" Winter yelled, dropping his bag in shock at what he was seeing: Edwina sitting in a hospital bed with bandages covering most of her torso, arms and legs. His cry was so loud that Ross and Brosh jumped. Alphonsa, who was now also in the room to check up on the older girl, also had a fright.

"I didn't hear anything about you being in here for getting hurt that badly!" the blonde boy cried, rushing over to the bedside. "Ed! Say something!"

"Actually it was less than half this bad at first but then…."

_The major took one look at the Fullmetal Alchemist before he rounded on the Second Lieutenant and Sergeant. "What? She snuck into the fifth research institute and was severely injured?"_

_The soldiers closed their eyes and waited for their punishment, but none came. They had to reopen their eyes when they heard their charge cry out. Armstrong had her in another of his almost-suffocating hugs._

"_I was so worried, Edwina Elric!"_

"And that's what happened," the female alchemist finished. "Thanks to that, I'll have to stay here even longer."

Right now, Armstrong was flexing, and Winter momentarily hoped he did not lecture him on muscle structure, before angrily snapping, "Geez, stop making me worry!" to Edwina.

"Don't tell me that!" she snapped back, and angrily removed some of the bandages the nurses had put on in places she did not need in their haste.

"Your training isn't sufficient," Armstrong commented.

"Don't confuse her for someone like you," Winter told the Major, with a momentary smile, before his expression returned to worry as he returned to looking at the older of his two friends. "But still…aren't you still badly hurt even without the part that Major did?"

"It isn't a big deal. It'll heal pretty fast." She suddenly noticed her friend's expression was now one of guilt and sadness. "What's wrong?"

"I was wondering if you got hurt because the automail broke down…" He clasped his hands in front of him in an almost feminine manner. "Because I didn't maintain it properly…" he now sounded close to tears.

There was another moment of silence, and Alphonsa, Armstrong, Ross and Brosh looked at the girl.

Edwina raised her hands and waved them as she cried "N-no! It's not your fault, Winter! " and mentally adding: _He's sweeter than I thought. He was so worried about that… _She continued to make her excuses. "It broke because I was using it recklessly! Your maintenance was perfect as always!"

Winter now felt confused. _She didn't know I forgot to put in a screw?_

"And I actually was able to avoid getting even more hurt because it broke! Don't worry about it, OK?"

_And it worked out OK? _The boy continued. He felt a rush of happiness and cheerfully cried, "Yeah, it's not my fault! Now I'd like to start talking about the price for the maintenance trip!"

_OK, I take it back. He's not sweet at all,_ the blonde girl though.

"Yes, fix her arm and heal her injuries and the energetic Edwina Elric ought to come back soon!" the Major declared, and the addressed the girl. "To do that, you must be fed and rested!"

"I get it!" the girl replied.

Winter noticed an empty plate next to the hospital bed - along with a full bottle of milk. His expression turned serious. "You left the milk."

The following moment of silence was so intense it could almost be cut with a knife.

"…I hate milk," Edwina finally said.

Winter grabbed his head in frustration and shouted: "_It's because you say crap like that that you're always going to be an under-developed midget!_"

"_Shut up! There no way I can drink some white juice spurted from a cow!_" Edwina screamed back.

"_You are being selfish, Edwina Elric!_"Armstrong hollowed in-between them. "_If you want to quickly, you must be well fed!_"

"_It shouldn't be a problem if I can take something else besides milk for nutrition, right?_"

"_That's why you haven't grown!_"

"_What was that? Nobody ever said milk is the ultimate source of nutrition!_"

In the middle of the argument, Alphonsa silently left, having not said a single word. She could not bring herself to ask the question, not just yet. The arguing trio, along with Ross and Brosh, did not notice until they heard the door shut. All went silent.

"Hm?" Winter said.

"Al?" Edwina said.

Alphonsa walked silently down the corridor.

"…I'll get to work," Winter said.

Edwina rolled onto her stomach, took off one-half of the wrap-around hospital-issue top she was wearing (making sure to keep it wrapped around her chest) and extended her automail arm, which Winter placed on an armrest after setting it up. He then removed his jacket, replaced with a protective apron, pulled on his work gloves, opened his toolbox (the bag) and began replacing the broken and bent screws with new ones.

"If I recall correctly, didn't you say something like you won't need me or Granny once you get the Philosopher's Stone?" the boy suddenly asked the girl. "Yet, you're the one stuck with automail."

"Shut up! This is giving me a lot of grief!" the alchemist snapped in response. She then sighed and added, "For now, I have to keep it. And Al is still going to be like that."

The blonde boy paused and glanced at her face.

"Speaking of Al…" the girl went on to say with a frown. "She's been acting strange lately."

"Strange?" Winter echoed.

"Yeah. It's like she's not talking as much or she's thinking of something."

Ross and Brosh, who had left to room to allow Winter to concentrate on his work, suddenly reappeared in the room.

"Maybe she's in shock because I hit her," the dark woman suggested.

"Or because I lectured her in such an angry tone," the brunette suggested.

"No. I don't think she's the sort of weakling who'd get shocked at something as minor as that," Edwina said.

"…I wonder if she's worried about something," Winter thought aloud, tapping his spanner against his chin.

"Oh. You don't know either," the female blonde said.

Her mechanic returned to his work. "How _should _I know when you don't even know when you're always with her?"

"I've got it!" Brosh proclaimed. "She has a crush!"

"Don't mix her up with some lovesick puppy," Edwina sternly replied.

Winter was now almost done. He just had to make sure that last screw was in, which he did, and made sure of this for at least a minute. He finished off with a quick polish and sat back. "Done."

"Thanks," the girl told him.

"OK! Maintenance done!" Brosh said, and he and Ross rushed out of the room.

Edwina was now happily moving her automail in circles. "It's finally fixed!"

"Now, you hurry up and heal," Winter told her as he removed his gloves and apron.

Suddenly the doors flew open and someone pushed pass the Second Lieutenant and the Sergeant. "Hey, Edwina! You getting it on with a man in your hospital room?"

"WHAT?"

The girl and boy looked at the man who had just bust in - Hughes. He was dressed casually, wearing an open-collared, purple shirt, and a black suit.

"He's only my automail mechanic!" the older Elric shrieked as the blonde boy looked on.

"Oh, so you seduced a mechanic?" Hughes crooned. "Not bad."

The alchemist screamed, and fell off the bed, grabbing her head. "_I say it like that! He says it like that!_"

"You'll open your wounds like that," the Lieutenant Colonel commented.

The girl calmed herself down with a few deep breaths before sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"Winter, this is Lieutenant Colonel Hughes," she introduced the dark-haired man.

"I'm Maes Hughes, pleased to meet you," Hughes told Winter, shaking his hand.

"I'm Winter Rockbell," the boy introduced himself.

"Is it alright to sneak away from work?" Edwina suddenly asked.

The Lieutenant Colonel laughed before saying, "I'm off duty from the afternoon on."

"Really!" the girl huffed. "Didn't you say that the tribunal's been really busy lately and you couldn't take a day off?"

"No need to worry!" Hughes raised a hand. "I left the overtime work for Sciezka to do."

At the moment, the former librarian was surrounded by a mountain of papers, and was on the brink of hopelessness, thinking she would never get it done.

"You're a monster!" Edwina cried.

"So," Hughes continued. "While I was off duty, I came to check up on how you were doing, but I also came to do something else." A small smile appeared in his face. "I've got some news about Scar. It seems you'll be released from our watch pretty soon."

The young alchemist also smiled. "Really?" She raised her arms in joy. "I'm finally free of these annoying escorts!"

"Hey, that's mean!" an offended Brosh cried.

"What do you think would have happened if we weren't with you?" Ross added, unimpressed.

"Huh? Escorts?" a confused Winter said. He turned on Edwina, his voice stern and his finger pointing, and a hand on his hip. "Hey, what kind of dangerous business have you gotten into?"

"No! Nothing! Don't worry!" Edwina replied nervously, waving her hands. "It's not a big deal!"

The boy huffed, both hands now on his hips. "…Right. It's one of those things you sister's wouldn't tell me if I asked anyway." He packed away his things. "See you tomorrow." He heaved his bag over his shoulder. "I'll go find an inn to stay at."

"You can stay at one of the military lodging facilities for a cheap price if you mention my name," Edwina suggested.

"Military?" the boy replied, a frown on his face. "That sounds stiff."

"Oh yeah. In that case, you can stay over at my house!" the Lieutenant Colonel said.

"I don't want to impose myself on somebody I met for the first time-" Winter began, waving his hands in front of him, only be interrupted by the glasses-clad man.

"I'm telling you not to worry about it! My family would be delighted!" He grabbed the boy's wrist. "OK, let's do that and let's go!"

"Excu-"

He never finished the sentence, as just like Sciezka before him, Winter was dragged off. Unlike Sciezka, Hughes used his arm to pull him, rather than his collar.

"Another kidnapping…" Edwina muttered.

* * *

Winter was walking down a street next to Hughes, clutching a giant Teddy bear in his arms in front of him. It was so big that it nearly obscured his face. Hughes was carry several wrapped presents.

"Um…Mr. Hughes," the young mechanic began confusedly.

"Yeah?" the man said.

"What is this for?" he looked down at the bear as he spoke.

"I'm glad you asked," Hughes replied cheerily. "Today's my daughter's third birthday!"

Hughes took Winter to his house, but the boy was surprised when they did not initially go to the front door.

"Why are we going round here?" the blonde asked as they quietly moved to the back of the house.

"Well, we need to hide these. They're a surprise," Hughes said as placed the bear and the other presents under a blanket in the back garden. "Oh, I can't wait to see my little girl's face when she opens them!"

They returned to front of the house, and the Lieutenant Colonel knocked on the door. There followed the sound of running feet and the door was flung open.

"Papa! Welcome home!" cried a toddler's voice.

Winter found himself looking a woman and a little girl. The woman had light-brown hair reaching half-way to her chin, curving inwards to frame her face, along with green eyes. She wore a dress and collar-less jacket. The little girl was almost a copy of the woman, with the same hair and eyes, but with a fuller face, her eyes larger, and her hair pulled into two short, spiky pigtails. She was dressed in an adorable white, floral-print dress, a short-sleeved pink cardigan, and white socks and black Mary-Jane shoes.

Hughes threw his arms around the little girl and pulled her up in a tight embrace.

"Elicia! I wanted to see you!" Hughes cried in a happy voice.

"Papa, your beard's tickling me," Elicia cried.

After a little more hugging, Hughes placed his daughter down. He turned to the woman and said, "I told you about them right? The Elric sisters?"

"Yes," the woman replied.

"This is their childhood friend, Winter." He gestured to the teenager. "He was looking for a place to stay so I brought him." He turned to Winter. "This is my wife Gracia and my daughter Elicia."

"How do you do? Please relax," Gracia said, smiling kindly to the boy.

"Thank you," the boy replied, before crouching down to Elicia's level. "How old are you, Elicia?"

The girl raised two fingers. "Tw-" She paused, frozen. "Thwee!" she now held up three fingers.

Strangely enough, Winter had the exact same reaction as Elicia's father.

"_Awww, so cute!_" he cried, clamping his hands to his cheeks. He then stood up. "But, are you sure this is OK?"

"Isn't it more fun to enjoy the festivities with everyone?" Gracia asked rhetorically. "Welcome to our home."

Winter smiled.

About an hour later, the house was packed with toddlers and their parents. A long table had been set out with various delicious snacks and drinks. The house was soon full of the joyful cries of children and the chatter of adults.

When it was time, Winter, along with the other parents and children, settled himself at the long table next to a plump man, right next to Elicia, who had the honorary seat at the head of the table.

"Happy birthday!" everyone cheered as Gracia placed a large birthday cake down on the table. Winter also clapped while others released party poppers.

After the meal, the children went off to play in the room next door (Elicia especially loved the giant teddy bear), and the adults, along with Winter went to find a place around the room to chat.

Suddenly, Elicia made her way over to her father with a cry of "Papa!" She held out a small, wind-up mouse. "The mouse I got isn't moving."

"Oh?" the Lieutenant Colonel said in confusion. "I guess it was defective."

Hearing this, Winter quickly came up with a plan. He walked over to Elicia and Hughes.

"Elicia, may I see it?" he asked the little girl with a kind smile and a hand outstretched. The girl thought for a moment before handing over the toy.

He went over to his tool bag and moved over to the table, pulling out a seat to sit on. Several children and parents came over in curiosity. The children gasped as Winter took the little mouse apart.

"Thought so," he said, looking down at insides. "A gear's out of place." He made a small tweak with his the screwdriver. "So I do this and…OK" he put the mouse back together, wound it up and placed on the table. It still did not move. Elicia looked sad, and Winter felt sad.

But suddenly, after a few more motionless moments, the mechanical creature began moving along the table. The children gave gasps and cries of "Wah!" in delight and amazement.

"Wow wowie!" Elicia happily cried.

"You're pretty handy," Hughes commented.

"A toy doctor!" Elicia cried.

"Ahaha, not really, but it's close," Winter replied.

Taking Elicia onto his lap, the boy sat down and explained to him his story while Elicia played with the toy mouse."

"So, you're her mechanic?" the Lieutenant Colonel said.

"Yes," the blonde replied with a nod. "We were all born in Rizenbul and our houses were close. When we were kids, we used to always be together like siblings. Some kids thought it was weird that I hung around with two girls most of the time, rather than boys."

The dark-haired man laughed. "Must have caused a lot of trouble because of that."

Winter also gave a laugh. "I guess you could say it did, but I only get worried. And just think, when they come back, it turns out that she only totally busted her arm." His amused expression faded as he continued. "Ed was hospitalised for some major injuries. And it seems like Al's worried about something. Ed's automail…I attached a new one around half a month ago, but taking at look at her today, it's damaged all over the place. And her body is like that. Just what kind of life are they having?" His voice became a tone of sadness at the last sentence. "But, no matter what happens, they absolutely won't say anything about it. And when they left to restore their bodies, they decided by themselves without getting any advice. If I were really their brother…I wonder if they would have talked to me about their leaving and also about what happened with those wounds I saw today. It's not that they don't ask for advice, it's that didn't need any advice." He looked up at Hughes, and was surprised to see he was smiling.

The Lieutenant Colonel removed his glasses and pulled out a cloth as he said. "They thought you'd understand without having to talk to you about it."

"…There are times when things have to be said to understand them," Winter commented.

The dark-haired man was now cleaning his glasses, a smile still prominent. "Can't do anything about that. From what I've seen, women tend to keep things to themselves. Especially if that thing will cause worry to their loved ones. If they're going to suffer, they want to avoid making other people support them as much as possible. That's why they won't say anything. Us men, however, we tend to speak through actions rather than words, so to them, your worry is quite clear. But when those sisters start giving up…at that exact time, you stop them. Isn't that enough?"

Winter opened his mouth to reply, but was prevented from doing so by the arrival of a young boy crying "Elicia!". He reached up and grabbed the girl's hand, and she hopped down from Winter's lap. "Let's play!"

Two more boys arrived.

"What are you saying?" one demanded. "Elicia's going to play with me!"

"What? No, with me!" the third piped up.

The older blonde boy was cheered up by the site and laughed. "Ahahaha, your daughter's popular."

He jumped with shock at Hughes' nest move. After putting his glasses, he pulled out a gun, cocked it and yelled, "_Hey, punks! Don't you dare touch my daughter!_"

"Y-You're letting your actions speak louder than your words!" the mechanic cried.

Another hour or so later, the party was over and the parent had taken their children house, and Winter had helped tidy up the mess (despite Gracia's protests). He now stood at the door to the Hughes' house, his bag in one hand.

"Thank you for taking care of me," he told the family.

"Are you really OK?" Gracia asked. "You can stay here as you as you'd like while you're over here."

The boy raised a hand and politely answered, "I can't let myself get spoiled, so I'll find a place to stay by my-" He felt a sharp tug on his jacket sleeve. He looked down to see Elicia on her tip-toes, grasping the sleeve with both hands.

"Elicia!" Gracia said, leaning down for a moment. She stood up upright again as she said, "She's gotten really attached to you."

"Hahahaha, it looks like you're siblings!" the Lieutenant Colonel proclaimed with a smile.

"Eh?" Winter said, a blank look on his face.

"Then I guess you know where you're staying today," Gracia said.

"Bro! Have a safe trip!" Elicia said with a smile. "Come back soon!"

The male teenager crouched next to the girl and drew her into his arms for a hug.

"Heh heh. I'm happy to have made a little sister!" he happily cried.

* * *

Once again, Edwina eyed the bottle of milk next to her plate as if it were poison.

"So, you're here again today, punk!" she growled at the object. She glanced up as Alphonsa re-entered the room. "I've had enough of this. What the hell is this milk for? I'm definitely not drinking this!" She looked her at her sister again. "Hey, Al, drink this for me instead- wait, that won't work with that body.

For the first time in the whole day, the armour girl spoke, but in a rather monotone voice. "You have a real body, Nee-san, so you'll have to drink it." She settled down on a stood.

The older girl took a forkful of food. "I don't like what I don't like! It's not like I'm going to die from not drinking milk! And even if I look like this, I am getting taller and more developed. But everybody keeps saying

'small!' and 'flat-chest!'."

As the conversation continued, Winter, pulling off his jacket, and Hughes arrived outside the room. Ross saluted a welcome back.

"Al, you're lucky, since your body's huge," the blonde girl went on.

Alphonsa clenched her hands in fists. She finally lost it. Standing up, she screamed "I DON'T WANT THIS BODY!"

Edwina and Winter, who had just re-entered, were shocked by the outburst and simply stood there.

* * *

**Author's Note: If you were wondering about the "girls tend to keep things to themselves", dear readers, well, I do think that is true to an extent. Although, unlike most men, they are more likely to tell things to their same-gender friends, they do tend to keep bad things to themselves. For example, women tend to keep abuse to themselves, as they could be worried about other people finding out and worrying. I am not saying men do not share tings, but it can be noted that they are less likely to do so.**  
**I am not so sure about the "men respond more with actions then words", as I have not really seen that happen. I am not sexist, please do not think so. I am just trying to think of what the attitude of the 1910s would have been.**

**I am sure there are more mistakes than usual in this chapter, as I was determined to upload it before my thirty-day limit. I will check it later. I am also working on an original story, so my scedule is quite busy.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.**

**Leave a review if you want.**

**Thank you ^_^.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

_**Steel Heart**_

"…I didn't want to…get this body," Alphonsa said, in a voice she now struggled to keep calm.

"Ah…" Edwina said, thinking she had made a grave mistake in what she had been saying. "I'm sorry. That's why I want to restore your body as soon as possible. It's my fault everything got screwed up, remember."

"And what proof is there that you're going to restore my body?" Alphonsa asked, her eyes now again devoid of light.

"I'll definitely restore you! Trust me!" the older girl replied.

"'Trust'?" the armour girl's voice rose to a shout. "_You're telling me trust with this hollow body?_" Hughes, Ross and Brosh were now listening to the conversation as they stood outside the room. It was hard not to. "In alchemy, they say a human being is made from the fresh, body and soul! But was there ever a person that proved that in an experiment? If you think about it logically, all 'memory' is just 'information'."

"What are you talking about?" Edwina asked. Her sister had not acted like this since that rainy day when they had been attacked by Scar, and she never liked it.

"Nee-san, you said there was something you were too scared to tell me before, right?" the younger girl went on. "_Could that be that something like my soul and memories are fake?_". The Fullmetal Alchemist's eyes widened. The armour girl raised her arms. "Nee-san, how can you prove that a person called Alphonsa Elric existed? Isn't it possible that Winter, Aunty, everyone, was tricking me? _Well, is it, Nee-san?_"

After a few moments of silence, in which the older Elric simply stared down at her food - she slammed her fists down on the tray, shaking the table.

"…Is that…what you had been holding inside of you the whole time?" the Fullmetal Alchemist asked in a blunt, almost sad voice while still looking down. "Is that everything you want to say?"

Alphonsa did not reply. Edwina took it as a 'yes'.

"I see…" Edwina said. She put on her slippers and left the room in silence.

"Ed!" Winter cried, looking out the door after the girl as she walked silently down the hall. He was still in shock at Alphonsa's speech. The three soldiers did not say a word. After fetching something from his bag, which he had left outside the room for Hughes to look after, Winter walked back into the room, holding the object he had pulled out behind his back.

"Al," he said to the girl as he looked down at the ground.

"Yes?"

"YOU IDIOT!" Winter shouted and raised the object he had hidden - his favourite silver spanner - and brought it down on Alphonsa's metal head as hard as he could.

The girl yelped in shock and lost her balance, falling on her bottom. Winter had never hit her before.

"Wh-what was that for?" she asked nervously.

The male teenager now stood over her with his arms rigidly straight at his sides, his fists squeezed tight. Tears began running from his eyes as he looked at the younger Elric with a furious expression.

"W-winter…" Alphonsa tried to say, scared.

"YOU DON'T KNOW HOW ED FEELS!" Winter shouted at the top of his lungs, tears flowing from his eyes. "THAT THING THAT SHE WAS TOO SCARED TO ASK YOU…" the boy had to pause for breath. "WAS THAT IF YOU BLAMED HER FOR WHAT HAPPENED!" He remembered the scene exactly, even if it had been a few years:

_The exposed muscles of the underside of Edwina's right shoulder was hooked into a bag of solution. She also had a wet towel on her forehead, cover her eyes, which had been placed there in a vain attempt to control her fever. Sitting next to the bed, Winter and Pinako watched over her with concern._

"_It's my fault Al has that body…" Edwina managed to say in-between heavy breaths. "She can't eat, sleep, get hurt or feel…" she tightly gripped a fistful of the blanket. "…she blames me…she definitely blames me…!"_

"_That's not true!" Winter cried._

"_Al isn't the sort of girl that would blame you. You'll see by asking her," Pinako added._

"_I'm afraid to…I'm scared to ask…" the girl gasped. "That's why I need to restore her as soon as possible!"_

In the present, Winter had sunk to his knees before the armour girl. "She cried every night while moaning from the pain and fever that came along with the automail surgery." He felt his voice beginning to break due to the tears. "But…but you're still…" his voice rose again. "In just what world is there an idiot that would be ready to throw away her own life to make a fake little sister?" He paused to wipe the tears from his eyes. "_Isn't she your only sister?_"

Alphonsa said nothing, but mentally jumped when the mechanic suddenly and dramatically pointed a finger to the door.

"Go after her," he hissed.

"Ah…ok," the female teenager said, and slowly got to her feet. She walked out the room.

"_Hurry up!_" Winter shouted, appearing at the door.

"OK!" the girl cried, breaking into a run. Hughes, Ross and Brosh simply stared, unable to think of anything to say (and a little frightened to do so).

After some fruitless searching, Alphonsa found Edwina out on the roof of the building, staring out at the city.

"Nee-" the young Elric began, only for her sister to cut across her with a completely unrelated topic.

"That reminds me," she said, stepping away from the railing she was leaning against to stretch her legs. "I haven't spared for a while so my body's gotten weak."

"Huh?" the surprised armour girl responded. _Isn't she going to say anything else about what I said?_ She decided to go along with the new topic.

"What are you talking about? Your wounds haven't even healed yet…" Alphonsa cut herself off this time, having to leap to the side as the blonde suddenly struck at her with a high kick. "Wai- wait!" the armour girl cried, but the older female ignored her and this time went into for a punch. Alphonsa blocked it. "Nee-san!" The older girl threw another punch. "You'll open your wounds!" Suddenly, the blonde jumped and grabbed a piece of cloth that was sitting on the roof and threw it over her. "Wah!" Edwina delivered a kick to her face and she fell to the ground with a loud crash.

"I won!" the older alchemist cried in joy, and threw an arm into the air. She then flopped onto the floor next to the younger teenager with a laugh. "This is the first time I beat you, Al." She lay down, her arms spread and her head opposite with her sister's.

"That's not fair, Nee-san," the young girl said as she detangled herself from the sheet and threw it to the side.

"Shut up! A win's a win!" The older female replied. "…We fought a lot when we were kids."

"Yeah," Alphonsa said. "I sure fought a lot for someone who hates violence and was a lover of dresses and pretty things."

"Now that I think about it, we fought over a bunch of stupid things," Edwina continued.

"Like who would get the top or bottom bunk in in a bunk bed…"

"I lost that time."

"We always fought over snacks."

"Awww…I don't remember ever winning."

"Who'd get the toys."

"We fought when we played at river lane too."

"I got knocked into the river."

"We fought when we were training with Sensei, too."

"She told us to shut up and half-killed us, so that was a draw."

"And I doodled in your book, Al."

"I beat you with the same book."

"We also fought about who would marry Winter."

"Huh? _I don't remember that!_"

"I won, but I got rejected."

"Oh, I see…" The older Elric paused and then added. "And you're saying those are all fake memories."

"I'm sorry," the armour girl said sadly, though she was glad the conversation had returned to the subject.

Edwina expended her right arm straight, her fist clenched. "Weren't you the one that said this at East City? 'I want to restore my body, no matter what'. Are you saying that's also an artificial feeling?"

Alphonsa extended her left arm straight and also clenched her fist. "…That wasn't artificial."

Edwina placed her fist on her chest. "Yeah. We've decided that we'll definitely restore ourselves. We don't need the sort of half-hearted hearts that would get shaken up by something like this." She extended her arm into the air in unison with her sister. "I'm going to get stronger, both emotionally and at fighting!" She again paused. "…And drink as much…_milk_…as I can…" she shivered.

Alphonsa giggled.

"_Yeah! Let's get stronger!_" the sisters said in unison, punching their fists together.

Little did the two know that, the whole they had been talking, Winter and Hughes had been standing on the staircase leading to the roof, listening in.

"Mr. Hughes," the boy whispered. "I guess there are times when you have to say things with words to get the message across."

"Yeah," the Lieutenant Colonel agreed.

Back on the roof, Edwina was rubbing her back as she walked.

"It's because you were pushing yourself," Alphonsa was saying.

The older girl responded with a groan.

Winter and Hughes slipped away before they were seen.

Half an hour later, Hughes, Armstrong, and Alphonsa had gathered in Edwina's room. Winter had been sent elsewhere for the sake of worry (and to get train tickets), and Ross and Brosh had been send to stand guard outside.

The Fullmetal alchemist herself had moved her bedside cabinet to in front of her as she sat on the side of her bed to use as a table as she drew reference pictures. She was using them to illustrate as she explained all she remembered about her time in Laboratory 5.

"…And after I was knocked out by this guy," she held up a crude picture of Envy (which had a small, crossed-out picture of Lust in the corner). "I don't remember anything else."

"Soul guardians…previous sacrifice…allowed to live…a person named Envy…and according to Dr. Marcoh, the stones were used even in the East Area Civil War," Armstrong went over the details aloud.

"A tattoo of the Ouroboros…" he looked at picture of said object. "The Transmutation Circle for the Philosopher's Stone…" he looked at another picture. "There are many mysteries just concerning on the stones.

The glasses-clad Lieutenant Colonel rubbed his chin as he responded, "Even if we try to investigate this further, the Reach Institute is a pile of rubble…"

All four suck into thought.

Outside the room, the Sergeant had been listening in.

"They're talking about something really complicated," he commented to his partner.

"I don't want to get involved in any more dangerous business, so I'm not listening!" the dark-haired woman replied, her fingers in her ears.

"Oh, you people, is this the Fullmetal Alchemist's room?" a new, deep and solemn voice asked.

"Yes, it's over he-" Ross began to reply to the new arrival, but then she, and along with her partner, realised who it was. They jumped, their eyes wide with shock.

Back in the room, Hughes had come up with an idea.

"Something might pop up if I fish through the crime list at the tribunal," he said as he looked at the picture of the Ouroboros tattoo.

"I will do some investigating of those subordinates of Dr. Marcoh that are believed to have participated in the research on the stones," the Strong-Arm Alchemist said as he looked another picture, the one of the Transmutation Circle.

They all heard the sudden clearing of a thought behind them and a polite "excuse me".

Everyone turned around to see who the newcomer was, and like the two soldiers outside, they reeled back in shock, three eyes wide with shock. Edwina also stood up.

"FÜHRER KING BRADLEY?" they all cried in unison.

As well as his eye patch, sword and thin black moustache, the Führer was easily recognised by his military uniform and the stars it bore on the shoulders. He always wore the more formal uniform. Instead of having the 'tails' on the trousers of combat-related soldiers, he had a coat was like the normal one, but longer, reaching almost to his shin. His trousers were also free, not tucked into boots, as he wore plain, polished black shoes.

At the group's reaction to him, Führer Bradley raised a hand and with a small smile, said, "Ah, be quiet." the group immediately fell silent. "Just like that." He made his way over to the group, who all gave a small bow.

"Mr. Führer, why come to a place like this…?" The glasses-clad Lieutenant Colonel asked, his hands behind his back.

"To drop off a present," the Führer said pleasantly. "Here you are. I hope you like melons," he held out a basket of fruit to Edwina, which the confused girl took. "We can't have an intelligent young woman like you being in hospital for too long."

"Ah…thank you," Edwina said and placed the basket on her bedside cabinet.

"Now, it seems that you've a bit of investigating on the military brass, Major," Bradley said to Armstrong without looking at him and his hands behind his back, his voice taking a stern tone.

"Wha? Ah…no, I mean…" the male State Alchemist stammered. "How did you-"

"Don't take my intelligence network lightly. And Edwina Elric…" Said girl tensed slightly. "_The Philosopher's Stone, was it?_" the girl's eyes widened for a moment. "How much do you know? Depending on the situation…"

There was a moment of tense silence, in which Edwina tried to think of an explanation. Then, suddenly - King Bradley laughed.

"Wa ha ha ha ha ha ha!" He bellowed. "I was joking! You don't have to be so defensive!"

"Say what?" the Elrics sisters said in perplexed unison.

"I also know that there are some disturbing moments within the Military. I want to do something about this. However…" he picked up the pictures on the bedside cabinet and looked through them.

"Ah, is that-" Armstrong began, but was again interrupted.

"Oh, a list of the names of those who worked on the research for the Philosopher's Stones before. I've investigating this quite thoroughly." He paused. "All of these people's current whereabouts are unknown."

"What?" the Strong-Arm Alchemist cried. _Could that mean…?_

"A few days before the fifth research institute collapsed," the Führer went on. "The Enemy is always one step ahead of us. And even with my intelligence network, we presently know nothing of the size, nor the objectives, nor how far the enemy has penetrated."

"In other words, to conduct a search would be very dangerous, yes?" the Lieutenant Colonel asked.

"Yes." The country's ruler turned to face the group. "Lieutenant Colonel Hughes. Major Armstrong. Elric Sisters. I have judged you that you are people worthy of being trusted, and I will give you an order for the sake of your own safety." The Führer's expression being truly frightening. "_I will not permit you to involve any more people in this, nor will I allow you to speak of this to any others!_" His face returned to its normal expression. "Act as if you believe everyone in the military is evil! _But!_" Everyone jumped at the sudden conjunction. "When the time comes, be ready as I will have you work for me without restraint."

"Yes, sir!" Hughes and Armstrong said, saluting.

Suddenly two new voices sounded from outside the room.

"Sir!"

"Where are you, Mr. Führer?"

"Argh! Not good! My annoying subordinates have come after me!" Much to everyone's shock, Bradley rushed over to the window and started to climb out of it. "This is because I snuck out of work!" He paused, halfway out, to give a wave. "I will go back?"

_What…?_ Was all Edwina could think.

Now walking solemnly along the road with his hands behind his back, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened, the Führer said, "We shall meet again! Farewell."

At that moment, as the foursome walked over to the window to share after their ruler in shock, Winter re-entered the room.

"Huh?" he said, confused by the site before him. "What's wrong everybody? The two guys outside are frozen solid."

"…There was a storm…" Edwina quickly lied.

"Anyway, I bought those train tickets you asked for," the mechanic said and held up the envelope.

"You are in a rush. Your wounds have not even healed yet," The Strong-Arm Alchemist commented.

"Like the Führer said, I can't stay in locked up in a place that stinks of antiseptics forever!" the Fullmetal Alchemist snapped in response. "I'm leaving Central tomorrow!"

"Where are you going this time?" Hughes said, reading the tickets that Winter was now looking while Alphonsa checked the map that came with them. "'Dublith'"

"_Ah!_" Winter suddenly yelped, making everyone jump for the second time. He jabbed a finger down at a location on the map. "Over there! Before Dublith!"

"'Rush Valley'? What's over there?" Alphonsa asked.

The boy became giddy with glee, his eyes seemed to sparkle, placing one hand on his chest and the other into the air as he proclaimed (in what Edwina thought was a rather girlish manner) in a high voice, "_I've always wanted to go there! Rush Valley, the holy land of automail and automail mechanics!"_ Turing to Edwina, he began waving his arms franticly, as he yelled, "Take me! Take me! Take me! Take me! Pleeeeease!"

"Go by yourself!" his friend told him.

The male teenager walked over to her, and, with his hands on his hips, firmly said, "Who's paying for this trip?"

"Are you trying to threaten me?" the girl asked in response

Alphonsa walked over to them. "Isn't it ok? It's on the way."

_Well, I guess if Al's ok then…_ Edwina thought for a moment. "OH, whatever," she said, turned her head and folding her arms.

"Yes!" Winter cheered and double punched the air before walked over to the door and yanking it open, pausing while still holding it, he said. "I was planning on gong back to Rizenbul, but I've changed my mind! I'm going to call Granny!" He rushed out the door.

"Aw, he's so happy," Alphonsa said with a giggle. She was relieved that the thought that there would no more spanner-throws for the moment.

"Yeah. He'll make a great husband," Hughes commented. "But not as good as me, though."

"_Don't say that to me!_" the Fullmetal Alchemist snapped. "_And don't sneak something in about your own love life!_"

* * *

The trio of Edwina, Alphonsa and Winter settled themselves down on a train in Central Station. Edwina had changed back into her (once again repaired) main outfit and had removed her bandages. As Armstrong had said, her wounds had not healed, but they scabbed. Her hair was also back in its usual plait. Winter had re-donned his jacket and put his bag on the floor next to him.

The trio waved back to Armstrong, Ross, Brosh, Gracia (though she had came on Elicia's part, as, Winter had felt sorry for her and decided she should know he would be going away, and had invited the girl and her mother to see him off). Hughes was elsewhere, having said he had 'something important' to do.

As the train began moving, as the three settled in their seats, Edwina in one, and Alphonsa and Winter in the opposing one, Winter asked, "What are you two going to do at Dublith, anyway?"

"I talked to Nee-san about a bunch of stuff, but we thought we should go see Sensei," the younger Elric answered.

"Aaargh. We're defiantly going to get killed…" Edwina commented.

"'Killed'?" the blonde boy repeated in a high voice. "What kind of person is your Sensei?"

Neither sister answered, for they wee quickly despairing.

"I knew it! I'm scared, Nee-san!" Alphonsa squeaked.

"By strong, little sister!" Edwina said in a voice feigning bravery.

The young mechanic became worried once more.

* * *

"The uprising at Reole?" asked Captain Fokker, a man working in the administrative office as Hughes and now Sciezka.

The Lieutenant Colonel man himself was sitting at his desk, surrounded by papers and holding a newspaper.

"Yes, the place where the people were fooled by this new religion called 'Letoism'," The Lieutenant Colonel replied. "I heard it's finally settled down."

"Oh, it really has," confirmed the dark-skinned Captain.

"Argh. According to this, there's a lot of dead. First Ishval and now these uprisings…the East Area sure has a lot of problems."

Fokker gave a small and amused smile. "It's not just the East Area. There's uprisings and border conflicts suddenly popping up all around the North and the East. I wonder if the country's going to be toppled while this is happening."

Suddenly, Hughes dropped the paper and quickly stood up, causing Fokker to jump, and began heading to the door. Sciezka was sitting in the desk next to that of her superior and she looked up in confusion.

"Lieutenant Colonel Hughes, where are you going?" Fokker asked.

"I'm going to check some records in the archives," the man said without looking back.

Sciezka and the Captain exchanged baffled glances.

Hughes made his way to the archive room and began looking through certain papers.

"The Ishval Civil War…The Reole uprising…" he muttered as he looked though a document and a map. "And hey, hey, who the hell thought this up? I've got to tell the Major and the Führer right awa-"

Something sharp tapped his back. He whirled around to find himself facing a dark-haired, attractive woman wearing a low-cut black dress, gloves and high-heeled shoes.

"How do you do?" Lust said in her smooth voice. "Or should I say 'goodbye'?"

After a moment, rather than being intimidated, Hughes grinned and said, "That's a pretty fancy tattoo, you got there, Miss." He recognised the tattoo on the woman's chest from one of the pictures Edwina had drawn, even if he did not know what it meant, he knew it was bad.

The nails on the Lust's right hand grew to their long, sharp, threatening length.

Lightening-fast, Hughes due a throwing knife from his belt and threw it at the woman, but she was equally agile, managing to slash three deep cuts into his shoulder, causing blood to spurt and him to fall to the floor outside the room.

"Shit!" he cried as he got to his feet, using the wall as support. He used to wall to straighten up as best as he could and began making his way to the reception desk.

Inside the room, Lust was laying on a pile of fallen books. As if it were nothing, she pulled out the throwing knife that was embedded in her forehead.

"That's my line," she said, looking at the knife and ignoring the blood oozing down her face. "For someone that does deskwork, you're better than I thought you'd be, Lieutenant Colonel."

The receptionist looked up as Hughes came walking by. "Oh, Lieutenant Colonel Hughes." She noticed the blood and his unsteady walk. "Lieutenant Colonel, you're bleeding!"

"It's nothing," he replied. "I'm borrowing the phone to call the Führer." He made his way over it, and picked it up - but suddenly changed his mind. He placed it back down and began heading towards the door.

"Sorry for interrupting you," he told the woman.

"Huh?" the woman said perusing the man while holding a first aid kit. "You're not gong to go to out like that! You need medical attention!"

The lieutenant Colonel left. Walking out on to the dark street, he managed to find what he was looking for - a public phone box. Getting into it, plucked up the receiver and quickly dialled a number.

"Hello, this is East Area HQ," the receptionist at said headquarters spoke.

"Put me through to Colonel Roya Mustang," Hughes said quietly but fiercely.

"I'm sorry but I'm not allowed to connect phones using an outside line to-"

"This is Lieutenant Colonel Hughes, from Central!" the glasses clad man cut across the woman. "This is an emergency, so I'm calling from outside!"

"Please give me a code," the receptionist went on.

"Ah, this is a pain in the arse!" Hughes cried. "Ankle, sugar, Oliver, eight, eight, zero!"

"I've confirmed the code. Please wait a little bit."

"Hurry up! The Military's in trouble!" The man was so busy with the phone that he did not noticed a picture of himself, Garcia and Elicia float out of his pocket onto the ground. However, he did hear the _ka-click_ of a handgun behind him.

"Could you put the phone down, Lieutenant Colonel?" a familiar voice asked.

Hughes slowly lowered the phone.

"Now, put the phone down," the voice instructed again.

Hughes looked behind him, and was confused. "Second Lieutenant Ross?" Indeed, it seemed to be her, but the man then noticed something critically wrong. "No, you aren't! Who are you really?"

"Who…I'm Second Lieutenant Maria Ross," the woman said. "We met many times at the hospital-"

"No, you aren't," the Lieutenant Colonel replied. "_Second Lieutenant Ross has a birthmark under her life eye!_"

The woman's mouth formed into a certain grin. "Is that so? I was being careless." With a flash of lightning-like energy, a mole appeared under the impostor's left eye. "Is this ok?"

"Wha-" the man cried in shock. He turned and leaned on the phone with a hand rubbing his head. "What the hell…it's like something I'd see in a dream."

"Yeah, that right. You're having the ultimate nightmare," The imposer said with a smirk. They noticed the picture at their feet and commented, "What a horrible disaster. And all because you're quick-witted, Lieutenant Colonel Hughes."

"Hey-hey, cut me some slack," the soldier said, subtlety letting a throwing knife slip out of his sleeve and into his hand. "I've got a wife and kid waiting for me at home." He suddenly swung around, his face determined. "_I can't die here!_" But he was unable to throw the knife. The impostor had changed their entire appearance.

"You're not going to stab your wife, are you?" the imposer asked with a smile that so much resembled the one of its guise. The smile turned to that same grin. "_Nice effects, aren't they? Lieutenant Colonel Hughes._"

Hughes was at a loss.

At East Headquarters, Mustang was re-entering her office. She sighed. The phone was ringing. She picked it up.

"You have a phone from a normal line from Lieutenant Colonel Hughes of Central."

"Hughes again?" she paused from another sigh. "Put him through." The receptionist did so.

"It's me." The woman said disgustedly. I won't listen if you're going to be bragging about your wife and daughter." The woman waited for a reply - but none came. "Hughes?" There was still no answer. "Hughes…hey!" She tried a little louder "Hughes!" She began to sense something was very wrong. "_Hughes!_"

She could not see the phone hanging from its cord. She could not see Hughes slumped form. She could not see the blood. She could not see the picture of a family who had just become torn.

* * *

**Author's Note: Man, I am not good at writing death scenes. I hope I did ok on Hughes' death. He was yet another character I liked who died. It seems that ninety percent of the characters I like die. **  
**I want to say something about the husband bit, something which I cannot hold until a more significant moment: **  
**I HATE EdWin. It makes no sense, is your cliché, overused, argument filled Takahashi Couple (I hate that kind of couple, especially when the Tsundere is female (and I hate female Tsunderes). However, due to the canon, I must forget about the great pairing that is AlWin and add in little EdWin moments (I am kind of dreading the OCC love confession). I am finding it more palatable with Edwina and Winter. I am sorry if any of you are offended. I love RoyAi (or RoyaAi in this?) though, hence the increased moments.**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter anyway, dear readers.**

**BTW, you know how I said that "Alphonsa" meant 'eager for war'? Well, I actually found it has more meaning than I first thought. It is also the name of a woman, now a kindly saint. Like Al, she lost her mother at a young age and was raised by her aunt (I know Pinako is not related but the Elrics still regarded her as "aunt").**

**Leave a review if you want.**

**Thank you ^_^.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

_**Separate Ways**_

The train chugging along its way to Dublith, and the Elric sisters had finally settled down, allowing Winter to pose his next question.

"What made you suddenly want to see your Sensei?" he asked.

"We've got two reasons," Edwina replied. "The first one is that we've been on a losing streak lately."

"What? You're going because you want to get stronger? I know your trying to show what girls are capable of, but " the older Elric cut across him.

"It's not _that_ simple!" the girl snapped, before turning to Alphonsa. "I mean…I just don't want to get stronger at fighting. I want to get stronger on the inside…right?"

"Right, right!" the younger Elric agreed, mentally nodding,

"I want to become even stronger than before!"

"Even if I am scared, somehow, I feel like if we go see Sensei, we'll get stronger!"

"…And the second reason?" Winter inquired.

Edwina paused before explaining, "To ask Sensei about Human Transmutation. Even though we were trained by Sensei, she never taught anything about the Philosopher's Stone or Human Transmutation."

"Yeah, because getting involved with the Philosopher's Stone meant getting involved with a lot of dangerous business. I thought we could ask Sensei directly about restoring our bodies," Alphonsa said.

"I can't worry about how we do things anymore. I'm ready to get killed by Sensei so I can ask…so I can ask…"

The sisters descended into despair again.

"It was such a short life, wasn't it Al?" Edwina howled.

"I want get a boyfriend at least, Nee-san!" Alphonsa wailed.

"Hey…" Winter said, then something hit him. "Oh I almost forgot!" he reached into his bag and pulled out a box. "I have something that'll cheer you up!" He opened the box.

"Look! Apple pie!" he said, presenting the wonderfully made desert.

"Wow, looks delicious," Edwina said. "How'd you get this? I didn't know you could all on your own."

"Mrs. Hughes said I should take something for the trip, so she made this for me," the blonde boy replied.

Edwina took a slice. "But still, there's a lot."

"Ahaha, looks like it was made for three."

"Nee-san, eat my share too," Alphonsa said, while trying her best to bury her jealousy.

"Urgh. _Are you getting me back for what happened at the hospital?!_" the older girl demanded.

"Please?"

The older girl could not say 'no'. "Fine." She began to eat it. "This is good! Mrs. Hughes is really good at cooking!"

"She taught me how to make it, so I'll bake some for you when you restore your body, Al," Winter said to his younger friend with a smile.

"Yay!" Alphonsa cried, throwing her arms into the air.

"I guess you could call this 'a mother's touch," Edwina suddenly commented.

"Nee-san, you sound like an old woman!"

"Mr. and Mrs. Hughes and Elicia, they were really nice people," the mechanic remarked.

The blonde girl did not seem to agree.

"Lieutenant Colonel Hughes is a stupid parent, and a very annoying guy."

"He always came to visit you when you were hospitalized," the armour girl said.

"I suppose you've got a point," the girl said, turned to look out the window. "He kept saying he was busy with work, but he visited me every day. The next time I go to Central, I'll have to thank him somehow…"

Little did the Fullmetal Alchemist know that she would never keep that promise.

* * *

The only sound was sobbing in Central's graveyard as six military police officers carried the coffin of Lieutenant Colonel Hughes through the mourners. All soldiers present, who included Colonel Mustang, First Lieutenant Hawkeye, Major Armstrong, Sciezka, and the Führer himself, stood in silence. The receptionist at Central, along with Sciezka, and cried into handkerchiefs along with several others. The soldiers were dress in their more formal uniforms, the men wearing the long jackets, normal trousers, caps and polished shoes with their hair slicked back, the women wearing below-knee pencil skirts and black pumps. Civilian mourners wore black suits and dresses. The sky was cloudy, as though even it knew today was a sad day.

The officers placed the coffin in its hole and began shovelling earth over it.

"Mama…" Elicia began in a confused and sad voice as she clung to her mother's dress. "Why are they burying Papa? Why are those men burying Papa?"

"Elicia…" Gracia whispered. A child so young could not understand.

"Don't…don't…Papa can't go to work if you do that…" the girl went on, addressing the men, her eyes beginning to fill.

"Eli…" Gracia was unable to complete her sentence, as she was choking on her tears. She drew her child in her arms and lifted her up.

"Papa always said he had lots of work!" Elicia wailed. "Don't…don't bury him! PAPA!"

Armstrong silently cried, the girl's pleas tearing throw him. Even the Führer, leaning on his sword, was shaking.

Later on, after the Funeral, people began walking away, unable to stay any longer. Elicia continued to cry, and Gracia almost had to take her away forcefully.

Soon, only Mustang stood looking at the gravestone. The headstone read:

**Maes Hughes **

**188****6-191****4**

At the bottom of the stone, there was a small inscription and the stone on the ground was a small epitaph and a flower ring.

"Getting a double promotion for dying in the line of duty…'Brigadier General Hughes', huh?" The woman said sadly. "You said you'd support me from below. Just what are you going to do now you've gone higher than me? You idiot."

"Colonel…"

Mustang turned to see Hawkeye walking up to her, clutching her coat.

"It's gotten cold," the man said as he came to a halt at the woman's side. "Aren't you going to head back?"

"Yes, I will, soon," Mustang replied with a glance to the man before returning to looking at the headstone. "Alchemists are corrodible people, First Lieutenant. Right now, a part of me is desperately trying to develop a theory on Human Transmutation. Now I feel like I understand what those girls felt like when they tried to transmute their mother."

"…Are you alright?" a concerned Hawkeye asked.

"I'm fine," Mustang replied, before turning to looking at the sky and suddenly saying, "…Oh no. It's raining."

"It isn't raining," the blonde man replied, also looking up at the sky.

"No. It's raining."

The male solider saw tears running down the woman's cheeks. "…Yes. It is." He said quietly. He suddenly felt the desire to draw the woman into his arms and hold her, comfort her, but he knew he could not. He was her subordinate. Maybe, if they were off duty, it would be different. He made do with reaching out and gently patting the woman on the shoulder in a hopefully comforting manner.

The woman jumped slightly at the contact, but gratefully allowed it. After a few more silent moments, she said, "Let's go back."

Later that day, after she had the energy, the Flame Alchemist headed to Central Headquarters to ask about her old friend.

"He left to go to the reference room, as if he suddenly realised something," Fokker explained as he and the Colonel walked through the corridor. "That was the last time I Lieutenant Colonel Hughes." They arrived at the reference room and Fokker opened the door. Inside the room, papers were scattered all over the floor, showing that there had been a struggle.

"He fought with someone," Fokker said. He closed the doors and pointed down the hall. "There are marks of blood left from inside the room down to the hallway. And the next place he went…" They headed back toward the reception desk and spoke to the receptionist.

"He tried to make a phone call while he was injured," she said, holding back tears. "And then, he seemed to have realised something…" She raised a tissue to her leaking eyes. The captain put an arm around her "In the end, he didn't call anyone and then he left." She started to sob.

The Colonel next headed to the phone booth in which Hughes had been murdered. As she approached it, the police officer standing next to it saluted.

_He found something out at the tribunal,_ she thought as she looking inside the box. _He went outside on purpose to contact me when he could have called inside…the East HQ telephone operator him say 'The Military's in trouble!'. _She looked at the phone. _What was he trying to tell me…is there some sort of crisis going on that will crumple the military?_

"Colonel." The woman turned to see her most trusted subordinate approaching her again. "I've brought the Major." He was silently worried about the well-being of his superior.

Armstrong saluted in greeting after stopping.

"The ones that are thought to responsible for the death of Lieutenant Colonel Hughes are being tracked," he told the Colonel as she stepped out of the phone box.

"Then why haven't they been caught?!" Mustang demanded.

"They are being tracked, but I do not know who they are," the older State Alchemist replied.

"What do you mean? Explain yourself!" the woman said in an angry tone.

"I cannot."

"As a Colonel, I am ordering you to talk!"

"I cannot talk."

Mustang realized it was hopeless. After taking a moment to calm down, she said, "…I get it. Sorry for calling you out here. You may go now."

"Yes, Ma'am." The almost bald man started to walk, but suddenly and said, "…That reminds me, I forgot to mention this. Up until several days ago, The Elric Sisters were staying here."

"The Elric Sisters?" Mustang repeated.

"Yes, the Elric Sisters."

"Did they find out what they're looking for?"

Armstrong turned his head to look at the woman while raising a hand. "No. After all, the thing that they are looking for is a legendary artefact."

"I see." Mustang closed her eyes. "Thank you."

The older soldier walked away.

"We couldn't get any more information from what he said," the blonde man commented. Mustang folded her arms and gave a small smile, confusing him.

"No, the Major is a real softie," the dark-haired woman said. "'The ones that are thought to responsible for the death of Lieutenant Colonel Hughes' means there's more than one of them. That means they're part of an organisation. Not being able to follow an order from a Colonel means that someone with a higher rank is silencing the Major. I think the Brass are involved." She opened her eyes. "And finally, what the Elric Sisters are looking for."

"In other words, the Philosopher's Stone," the First Lieutenant said. "Ah…I see…" He raised a hand to rub his chin in thought before continuing. "An organisation with ties to the brass, the Philosopher's Stone, and Lieutenant Colonel Hughes. Just what kind of link could there be…"

The black-haired woman slapped a hand to her head. "I don't know. I'm as clueless as you." Her expression suddenly began angry and she growled, "But, I won't let it end like this." She returned to her positing of folded arms and closed eyes. "Oh, I forgot to tell you, I will soon be assigned to Central."

"Oh, congratulations," Hawkeye praised. At least this was one thing his superior could be happy about at this time.

"This is the perfect the perfect opportunity. I'll search the brass, and I'll smoke out the guy who killed Hughes."

"It's unlike you to mix your professional and private agendas together."

Mustang opened her eyes and her voice became more firm. "There's no such thing as 'professional' and 'private'." Her expression became more serious. "My intention as an individual is to become Führer as well as to avenge Hughes. I'm sticking onto the brass." She turned to the First Lieutenant, looking at him for the first time since he had returned to her, and suddenly asked, "Will you follow me?"

"You're asking that now?" the sharpshooter replied, showing the woman how silly her question was with a smirk tugging at his lips. After all, they had known each other for years, since before they had entered the military, and he had followed her the entire time. There was no way he would stop now. "You should know the answer to that, Ma'am." However, one day he hoped that he could tell her how he truly felt, and maybe they could become more than just superior and subordinate on-duty, and friends off-duty (if the Colonel felt the same, of course). Until then, he would follow her to the end of the world, and nothing would change that.

The woman felt a small burst of happiness, causing her expression split into another small smile as she responded, "Thanks."

* * *

_He was walking through what seemed to be small piles of rubble and empty, dry ground, dressed in his now torn Ishvalan priest's attire. But how had he come to be here?_

"_Where am I?" Scar wondered, and lifted his nose to the air. "This smell…is this Ishval?" He looked around him, seeing absolutely nothing. "Brother…Master…where is everyone?"_

"_Heya."_

_Scar turned around to face the source of the voice, and found himself staring at a large rock, and on that rock stood a man. A man with long black hair in a ponytail and a smug smirk on his face._

"_Who are you?" Scar asked. "You aren't from Ishval."_

"_Oh, how rude of me. I forgot my manners," the man replied and spread out his arms, his hands open, showing a Transmutation Circle on each palm. "I'm the State Alchemist…" he paused. "That's in charge of the annihilation of this religion."_

_Scar's red eyes widened and he tensed._

_Suddenly, he found himself back in the East City sewers with the plump man in black charging at him. His clothing had also changed back to his normal golden jacket attire. Reeling back, he slammed his hand on Gluttony's face and tried to blow it up in his usual style. Much to his surprise, it did not work. However, the man did draw back away, yelling in pain as blood run down his face._

_Scar thought he was in the clear - but the man sudden give a grin and charged at him again. Scar tried to block him, but was too slow, and the grabbed his wrist. The man he did know was Gluttony then grabbed along the man's ribcage on his left side in his other hand and attempted to crush it. Scar gritted his teeth and held back a cried as he felt great pain and heard a horrific cracking noise. He then realised that Gluttony grip on his wrist had loosened slightly, and wrenched it out before using it to slice of part of the homunculus's other arm. Gluttony screamed in pain and Scar slumped against the sewer wall, holding his side - only to feel another slice of pain though his chest as some broke through the wall and slashed him so hard it sent flying and yelling in pain - and then - he woke up._

Scar opened his eyes with a gasp. He was lying on the floor of a tent with a blanket covering him and a pillow underneath his head. There were bandages on several parts of his body. As he began to think about where he was and the dream he had just had, someone entered the tent. This someone was a young boy carrying a cloth and bowl of water. He wore rather shabby clothing, a sleeveless, tunic-like top over a long-sleeved top, along with trousers the same tan colour as the sleeveless top, slip-on sandals and a bandana.

"Ah…You're awake," the boy said as he looked down at the man.

"I'm alive," Scar said, in a tone that almost seemed surprised.

"Yeah, I didn't think you'd get up," the boy replied as he sat down next to him and placed the bowl and towel down next to him.

"Where am I?"

"You're in a slum that's on the outskirts of East City."

"…So I was saved."

The child laughed. "Hey, be grateful. We were surprised. A person floating down the sewers isn't something I see every day."

The man did not reply.

"'There's no way that people this poor can afford to save people'. That's what you're thinking, right?" the boy went on, dipping the cloth in the water, twisting it and squeezing out the excess water. He placed it on the man's forehead. "Yeah, that's right. If you were a normal guy, we'd take everything you had off you and toss you back into the sewers. Pops, you're an Ishvalan, right?"

Scar tensed.

The boy gave another laugh. "Me and Mum are Ishvalans too!" He stuck his head out of the tent and yelled, "Gramps! He's up!"

The child's grandfather, a man with a long, white moustache and beard, answered the call.

"Oh…welcome back to the land of the living, young one," he said as he peered through the tent opening at Scar. "You're that guy, aren't you? The wanted criminal that's being searched for."

Scar tensed again, his eyes widening for a moment. "…Are you going to turn me in?"

The man laughed before cheerily replying, "No need to get defensive. This slum has nothing but people of the blood of Ishval. There isn't a fool here that would sell their own kind."

Suddenly, as if to prove this, people began to flood around the tent.

"Oh, you're up," a young man remarked.

"Mister, do you want anything? Something to eat? Something to drink?" a woman asked as she walked over with her hands behind her back.

"He's awake! Thank God! Thank God!" a small child cried in glee.

"Of course, we ain't got nothing good here, but it's filling all the same," a man said.

"To think there would be so many survivors of Ishval…" Scar said in amazement.

"Not just here. There are several villages throughout the land. They're quiet but are surviving well," the old man told him. "We can get along fine living in a place that reeks so much of soot. As it's said, 'All in the world is the bosom of our god, Ishvala."

For the first time in a long time, Scar smiled. "…I see." He suddenly tried to sit up. "I'm sorry for being such a burden erk!" Pain shot through his entire body and he was forced to lie back down again.

"Oh, don't move yet!" the boy cried. "You were close to dying back in the sewers!"

"Boy…" Scar hissed. "Is my right arm still with me?"

"Right arm?" the confused young Ishvalan echoed, but pulled the blanket aside anyway. "It's there, but hurt bad. Both of your arms and legs are still with you." He suddenly noticed the tattoo on the man's arm. "Wow, this is cool! Your right arm, that is." He picked up Scar's arm. "How did you get this tattoo?"

Scar moved his arm to look at the tattoo. "Yeah…" He paused. "It's something important I got from my family."

* * *

**Author's Note: Well, this was another quick update was it not?**

**I had to do another part I hated having to write, Hughes' funeral. I really do not like writing the deaths of good characters in general. ** **I wanted to have Hawkeye comfort Mustang by hugging her, but I thought, caring as he is, he still would not think it was appropriate, especially to do such a thing without his superior's permission. He felt fine comforting Edwina as she is younger than him. He may change his mind later, though :).**

**Well, that is all I can think about saying about this chapter. I may think of something else later.**

**I hope you enjoy it, dear viewers.**

**Thank you ^_^.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

_**The Boomtown of the Broken Down**_

Still blissfully unaware of Hughes's murder, The Elric Sisters and Winter had reached Rush Valley. A huge plank of wood, held on two poles, the tops carved into automail hands, announced the location in carved letters.

Being in the south, it was a hot, dry place. It was not as dry or hot as the desert of the east, but the sun beat still down, and most of its residents wore short-sleeved shirts and t-shirts in an attempt to prevent themselves overheating as they tolled. The sky was a beautiful blue.

The streets were filled with shops selling various wares, but, living up to its name of 'The Holy Land of Automail', most shops were devoted to the mechanical limbs. Upon arriving in the town, Winter pulled back her Alphonsa's breastplate and dumped his bag inside the girl's armour with an apology, and started whizzing from shop to shop. Both he and Edwina had removed their jackets (along with Edwina's red coat) and slung them over one arm. Edwina was also carrying her suitcase.

"Uwaaa! It's beautiful," a woman squeaked as she looked into a window. "This ring is the latest item from 'Remi's Jewellers' I never thought I'd see it here." The woman turned to her husband. "Buy it for me please!"

"Sure thing, honey," the husband immediately replied. The woman squeaked again.

Standing at another shop, Winter somehow managed to make the same squeaking noise as the woman (caused Edwina to remark mentally about his somewhat feminine tendencies when he was ecstatically happy). "Oh woooow! It's beautiful!" he cried with his hands on the window. However, what he was looking at was an automail arm. "This automail! It's a Gotts Eleven Year model! I never thought I'd see it here! And it'd look so good on Ed! Hey, Ed, if I bought this, would you-" He suddenly noticed the Elrics were staring at him. "What?"

"Nothing," the girl replied in a disgruntled tone with her hands in her trouser pockets.

"Right. So, if I bought this, would you wear it?" Winter asked.

"No," the alchemist curtly replied.

"Oh well…" the boy said in a slightly sad tone, his face falling for a moment.

_I thought it was only girls who went on shopping frenzies…_ Edwina thought.

Winter returned to walking beside the girls.

"This Rush Valley is aptly named," he said, throwing out an arm to the side. "'The Holy Land of Automail'. Really! Apart from a few shops, this place is all about automail."

"Yeah. It's full of unrest within these borders. Hopefully the economy here stays afloat," Edwina said matter-of-factly.

Suddenly, a large crowd of people, cheering and shouting, caught the trio's attention. They managed to pick up a few sentences.

"Incredible! Five straight wins!" they managed to hear a man say.

"No way anyone can beat this guy," another man told a father while his daughter jumped up and down, trying to see over the heads so much taller than her. Curious, the two girls and the boy made their way into the crowd to see what was going on, managing to get to get a few rows away from the front with Winter's polite "excuse me" repeats. Alphonsa had to make sure she was not blocking the view of anyone. At the centre of the throng were a small table and two chairs. On one chair sat a tall and burly man with two large formidable mechanical arms. A small pile of money lay on the table as well.

"Welcome to the metallic arm wresting contest!" shouted another, smaller man, standing next to the table. "Limited to challengers with automail arms! Entry fee is a thousand cens! Take home the pot if you beat the champion!"

An equally burly man, albeit with only one formidable automail arm, stepped forward.

"Great! Lemme give it a shot!" he said and took his position on the other side of the table and grasped the champion's hand. "I got a new arm today. Lemme test out it's limits."

"You seem pretty confident, buddy," the champion remarked.

The man playing as both announcer and referee placed his hands above the two contenders and gave the countdown. "Ready! Steady! Go!"

Not even a minute had passed before the champion effortlessly ripped off his opponent's arm. The crowd and the opponent were shocked by the speed. He simply shared at the now exposed wires of the upper part of his mechanical limb.

"Is this really a new arm?" the champion asked in an unimpressed voice. "Sorry, bud. Lemme get rid of this scrap for ya." He tossed the arm aside.

"How can this be…?" one male crowd member gasped.

"It broke!" another member cried.

"I can't believe it!" added another. "This guy's supers strong!"

Suddenly a proportion of the crowd surrounded the defeated male.

"Lemme fix it for ya!" one member cried.

"No, lemme!"

"I'll give you a discount!"

The proportion of the crowd practically dragged away the poor man.

"I saw him first!"

"I'll let you pay in instalments!"

"You can work for me to pay off if you got no money!"

The referee bellowed once again. "Next up…" He suddenly pointed at Alphonsa, who, along with Edwina and Winter were now at the front of the crowd due to the people that had left. "How about the big guy standing there? Give it shot?"

"First of all, I'm a girl!" Alphonsa cried. She hated that due to the armour some people mistook her for a man. "And, second, I couldn't possibly-"

The man ignored her, and approached Edwina instead. "How about you with the right automail arm?" Before the girl could reply, the man stepped back and slapped a hand to his head. "Oh sorry, a little blonde girlie like you couldn't possibly win. You ain't got the strength or the height." The man turned away. "Who else wants to try?"

No one had a change to ask, as the Fullmetal Alchemist angrily tossed her jacket, coat and suitcase to Alphonsa (who put it in the chest cavity of her amour) walked over to the table and slammed her hands down on it.

"Don't take women lightly!" she snapped, addressing both the referee and the arm-wrestling champion. "There are woman in the military, remember!"

"Yeah, but they went through years of training," a spectator commented.

"So have I," the girl replied. "And under one tough, scary woman."

"You're _really_ going to go for it, girlie?" the referee asked.

"Interesting…" the wrestler said.

"Ed!" Winter called. "Be careful, ok? Don't get yourself hurt or the automail wrecked!"

_There he goes again, thinking I'm weak…and gong on about the automail…_ Edwina thought, now even more angry and determined. She had once again failed to notice Winter's genuine concern. _If he knew the kind of things I've fought he'd know I'm strong…and freak out with worry…_ She returned her mind to the contest before she could realise that she did not really mind Winter's worry.

"There's too much difference in size and strength," commented a smug crowd member.

"Looks like another arm is gonna break."

"Mechanics on the ready!" one of the remaining automail engineers shouted.

The alchemist and the wrestler grasped hands.

"Ready! Steady! Go!" the referee yelled.

Yet again, hardly a minute had passed before one opponent was defeated. This result shocked the crowd even more than the last. Their jaws, along with Winter's, dropped simultaneously and their eyes became so wide, they looked as if they would pop out of their sockets. Alphonsa, on the other hand, simply sighed and placed her hands on her hips.

Edwina had slammed the man's automail arm onto the table, causing it to practically explode apart.

"…_What?_" the shocked man yelled as he look at the wires dangling out of the reminder of this arm like the person before him.

"Sorry," Edwina said sarcastically with a sweet, mocking smile on her face. "It looks like a little blonde girlie just beat you. And it's a good day for scrap dealers." She tossed aside the bottom half of the automail arm.

The crowd regained its voices.

"She broke his arm?" a bewildered man said. "But she's barely half his size!"

The remaining mechanics, excluding Winter, descended upon the defeated man and again dragged him with cries of things such as "I got a new model just for you!".

Edwina put her hands back behind her head in a relaxed, smug manner.

A confused Winter raised a hand in front of his mouth and whispered to Alphonsa, "What happened?"

"Nee-san used alchemy to break his arm," the girl leaned down and whispered back.

The young mechanic sighed. "She cheated? Well, I guess as long as she's not hurt…and my automail's OK…"

"It's nasty! No one should cheat! It's so unfair!"" the younger Elric hissed, surprising the male teenager with its harshness. As with Edwina, he was still not used to Alphonsa's side that was more aggressive.

"I know, I know," he said, trying to calm her.

The conversation was cut short when a bystander walked over the blonde alchemist and said, while pointing at her mechanical arm, "Hey, I haven't seen this automail before."

Suddenly a man with a monocle else yanked the arm out straight. "Can I take a closer look?"

Winter walked forwards to the crowd.

"I made it!" he proudly proclaimed with his hands on his hips.

"You did, lad?" another bystander asked. "But you're so young!"

"I've been studying since I was small," the blonde male replied.

"You got some skills!"

The remaining crowd surrounded the girl and boy. The girl felt her arm being yanked from left to right.

"I see…so it's hollow on the inside," another person said. "And I thought it had a much simpler mechanism."

"She has an automail left leg, too," the male teenager commented.

Edwina felt the young girl from earlier lift up her trouser leg. "He's right! It's great!"

Some of the crowd turned its attention to that and the girl was slowly overwhelmed.

Oblivious, Winter laughed and proclaimed, "Everyone is so enthusiastic! This is indeed the holy land of automail!"

Suddenly Edwina screamed. She could take it no longer, catching Winter's attention. Wrenching her arm and leg out of the multiple grasps, she began throwing punches and kicks until the crowd dispersed. After she had calmed down, a new, strange feeling began to develop. She checked through her pockets in quick succession.

"What is it?" Winter asked as he and Alphonsa came up to her.

"It's gone…" the girl hissed. "My State Alchemist ID…the silver watch is gone!"

"_Eeeh?_" Alphonsa squeaked.

The trio set off to ask the townspeople about the watch.

"I think you're being played, Miss," a mechanic told the group. "Must be the handiwork of Bunny."

"Who?" the older Elric asked.

"She's a thief that targets tourists."

"_Whaaat?_" the girl shrieked. "Do you know where I can find this person? Please, that watch is very important."

"Hmm…" the mechanic said.

"No harm in telling you," his co-worked added.

"But first let us take a look…" the first man began.

"At your automail!" finished the second.

The blonde replied by producing her automail blade and holding at their throats.

"S-she'd be off to t-the west side main," one of the frightened mechanics said. "A collector's shop called 'Glatz'."

* * *

The young thief known as 'Bunny', whose name was in fact Paninya, entered the shop called "Glatz", whistling a song. She was a tall, slender, dark-skinned young woman, in her late teens, with dark blue eyes and black chin-length hair pulled into a short ponytail. She was dressed simply, in a black sleeveless top, camouflage-print trousers, and black ankle army-style boots.

"Hey Pops, I've got something of value," she told the owner.

"And what have you pinched today?" he asked in response as he turned in his chair to face the girl. She handed him the item and leaned on the counter-top.

"Oh, an intricately crafted pocket watch," the old man noted as he looked the item over.

"Good, stuff, eh?" Paninya commented. "Give me a good price."

"A name is engraved," the old men went on, adjusting his glasses. "'Edwina Elric'." He looked at the front of the watch, running a finger over it. "I heard about these from somewhere. The emblem of the army…is this the six stars?"

It was a rather beautiful object, the State Alchemist watch. On its front, it was decorated the dragon that adorned Amestris National Flag inside two rhombuses, which had been carved by hand. Its silver colour glistened and shone in the right light, particularly the sunlight.

The shop owner had attempted and failed to open the open. "I cannot open the hood."

"Let me try!" the young pickpocket said, taking the object back. She started by shaking it.

"It doesn't sound like there's any movement," she observed as she moved the watch. "Is this full of rubbish?" She spotted something else. "I'll try to wind a string…"

She was never able to do so, as at the moment, the door to the small shop was flung open, slamming against the wall and giving the young woman and the old man quite a fright.

"_Don't move!_"

The girl looked around to see a light golden blonde haired girl and a suit of armour standing at the door. She recognised the girl.

"Don't _ever_ open the hood!" the Fullmetal Alchemist cried before charged at the older female.

Silently, the thief hooked her foot under a jar.

"Noooooooo!" shouted the shop owner. "That's a 100,000 cens jar!"

Edwina just managed to catch jar as 'Bunny' kicked it at her.

"Nice catch!" Paninya said, and, gripping the pocket watch tightly, she kicked open a window, leapt out of it, and raced along the roof of the adjacent building.

"Heh heh!" she laughed as she fled a smile permanently on her face.

The Elric sisters gave chase on the ground.

"Move those legs Al!" Edwina yelled as the two of them raced outside the shop.

"That kid's a State Alchemist…?" the old man said in surprise.

The thief and the older Alchemist had managed now leapt onto a pipe.

"Hold it right there!" Edwina cried. "You bitch!"

"Too slow!" the thief laughed, as she spread out her arms. Edwina was suddenly temporarily blinding by a puff of smoke from the pipe. "You're ten years too early, trying to beat me on my turf!" She gasped as something big loomed out of the smoke. She just managed to leap aside as the suit of armour (which she now found was worn by another, younger girl) tried to grab her. "That was close!"

The chase returned to the ground and the three females raced through the streets, ignoring the bemused expressions of the people they passed.

The thief turned down an alleyway.

"A dead end!" she cried in anger as she saw a wall at the far end.

"No way out for you now!" Edwina cried.

The dark-skinned woman smiled. "Heh. No big deal." With almost no effort, she leaped onto the platform and resumed running.

"What the hell?" Edwina cried, but followed her by jumping, onto Alphonsa's armour and using it as leverage to access the wall. "You're not getting away that easily!"

"Nee-san!" the younger sister said in annoyance. She could not access the wall due to her bulk.

As she flew threw the air, she noticed the young thief was balancing on a direction post. She saw why. A vicious bulldog was waiting. As soon as she landed, the bulldog attacked. Finding access to the platform through a staircase, she emerged to see a growling dog, which had pinned Edwina to the ground and was baring its teeth. She slowly approached it.

"Be a good boy…let my Nee-san go…"

The dog growled in response.

Alphonsa became angry, and trying to look as frightening as possible, she shouted, "NOW!"

The dog ran away, whimpering.

"Nee-san, are you all right?" Alphonsa asked as she crouched over the blonde.

"Uuuuhhh…" Edwina groaned as she slowly got onto her hands and knees. "I'M GONNA KILL THIS BITCH!"

"Why do girls fight each other so much…" Alphonsa asked herself. "It makes no sense…"

Paninya had settled down on a roof on was once again trying to pry open the pocket watch. After a good ten minutes of trying, she began to give up.

"I guess it can't be opened…" she said, disappointed. "There must be something really valuable in here if it's wedged this tight." She heard it up in the sunlight to examine it better. "Maybe it's just broken…"

"Don't open that watch!"

The thief looked up to see Edwina standing a little way away from her. "It got some dark secret or something?"

"None of your damn business!" Edwina replied harshly. "Now give it back."

Paninya blew a raspberry of refusal.

The Fullmetal Alchemist smirked and the dark-skinned woman watched in confusion as she clapped her hands together. Paninya gave a small yelp and leapt out of the way, as parts of the roof around her were hit with a lightning-like energy and morphed into crude hands.

"Who are you really?" she asked the younger female.

"A State Alchemist!" the older Elric replied and sent more hands after Paninya - but gave another cry of frustration as she easily jumped out of the way on the next roof.

"Haha, my first time toying with a State Alchemist," the young woman laughed with her hands on her hips.

"Gotcha now!" Edwina cried, and clapped her hands again and placed them on the roof. At once, a wall of stone roof with the word "STOP" engraved on it) raised up in front of the pickpocket, stopping her.

_Yes! _She's_ trap__- what?_

Paninya had back flipped high into the air. She landed in a rather unusual place - Edwina's head. The smaller teenager was shoved to the ground in pain.

"GODDAMMIT!" she shirked as the dark-skinned women jumped away once again.

A little distance away, Alphonsa and Winter were watching the chase.

"Whoa! What athletic skills!" the blonde boy said, peering through a telescope he had borrowed. "That girl moves like a monkey."

"Nee-san does too," Alphonsa said. "It's monkey vs. monkey."

"I think I should help Ed," Winter suddenly said. He and the armour girl headed off, not noticing that townspeople were now watching the chase in amazement.

"AAARRRRGGG!" Edwina growled as Paninya flipped to avoid another transmutation.

"Very good! Very!" she said as she landed and grabbed one of the blocks of stone Edwina had created and had tried to hurl at her. She tossed it back at the alchemist, who dodged and sent more blocks shooting up.

"Wahahaha," the older female laughed, and easily jumped over each of the blocks. "

_God damn this bitch!_ Edwina thought angry and incredibly frustrated. "Just wait till I get you!"

"Aw, what's the matter?" Paninya called over her shoulder. "You running out of steam!"

"Shut up!" the alchemist raised her automail hand. "Watch this!"

The girls down onto a wide, flat roof, onto which Edwina slammed her hand. Paninya gulp as more alchemical energy shot towards her - and was surprised when it suddenly fizzled out.

"Ummm….nothing happened?" she wondered aloud. "You ran out of juice or what."

"Alchemy isn't just about creating things," Edwina replied in a low voice while remaining crouched. "Which is to say," Paninya took a sleep forward. "I can break the ground beneath you!"

Sure enough, the ground gave way under Paninya and she gave a yelp of surprise. She fell into the building, a shop.

"That was dangerous!" she cried.

"My shop!" cried the owner in despair as he looked up at the gaping hole.

Edwina transmuted a cage using the roof, and slammed down around the thief girl.

_Finally, I got her! _She thought. She leaped down amid the dust she had thrown up. However, her feelings once again changed to frustration and anger.

"You got the wrong person!" the shop owner cried from inside the shop. Paninya was gone. "Besides, you'll never catch Bunny. No-one's ever been able to catch her."

"Sorry," Edwina quickly said, and destroyed the cage to free the man and raced towards the door.

Paninya was on her way down the main street, think she had lost the State Alchemist and could sell her watch, but then she noticed something blocking her way. It was the girl in the suit of armour.

"I've been waiting," Alphonsa said, and inside her head, she was smiling in a confident and rather devious fashion.

Paninya noticed she had wondered onto a strange circular symbol. She did not know it, but she stood on a Transmutation Circle.

Alphonsa crossed her arms over one another. Just as with the situation in Reole, alchemic energy shot out of her hands to the Transmutation Circle.

The thief's eyes widened as the symbol below her glowed with the blue energy. She yelped again as another cage, more highly quality then the first, ands resembling a bird's cage (complete with carrying ring), sprung up around her, with the elements of the ground changed to tough metal.

"Nice one, Al!" Edwina said, when she came upon the scene and run up to stand next to Alphonsa.

Alas, the sisters were suddenly foiled again. Paninya always had another trick up her sleeve. She effortlessly knocked away some of the bars of the cage. As her leg swing around, her trouser leg ripped, revealing another surprise.

"An automail leg!" Edwina cried.

Still balanced on one leg, Paninya replied, "It's nothing surprising in this town. But…" She swapped her position around and a panel fell down from the opposing leg. "My left knee can shoot projectiles too!" She fired bullets at the older Elric causing to have to jump to the side.

"Both her legs are automail!" Edwina cried.

"You gotta be kidding me…" Alphonsa added.

Paninya hoped out of the cage and, and started running again, called, "Catch me if you can!" to the still-surprised Elrics.

However, she did not get far. As she fled laughing, she suddenly felt someone take her wrist in a vice like grip and pulled her back, causing her to halt once again. She looked behind her. Holding her wrist was a blonde boy an inch or so taller than her.

"Oh no," the male teenager said with a determined expression as he placed his other hand on her arm. "I'm not letting you escape."

"Darn!" the girl hissed. Finally, after a chase throughout the entire town, she had run about of steam and ways of getting away, as the boy's grip was very strong, despite her struggles. She felt strange and a little embarrassed that something so simple had stopped her. Of all the things her pursuers had tried, all it had taken was a sharp-eyed grab from a teenage boy.

"Good job, Winter!" Alphonsa cried as she Edwina saw what had happened and sped towards the boy and girl.

"Don't let that thief go!" Edwina cried.

"Heh…of course I won't," the mechanic said with a most uncharacteristic grin, one that could rival that of the homunculus Envy.

"What are you going to do to me?" Paninya asked nervously.

Suddenly, the boy's expression changed to one of joy and pleading, and he moved his hands moved to clasp the girl's hand while getting onto his knees, looking to unknowing eyes as if he were about to propose.

"This automail…you gotta let me take a close look at it!" the boy cried.

"…Eh?" the confused older female said. She had been certain from the boy's previous expression that sure from the boy was going assault her.

The Elrics, having reached the pair, simply stared, lost for words.

* * *

**Author's Note: This marks another chapter I uploaded well within my thirty day time limit :). Though that could be because most of the chapter is a chase scene without much dialogue, which tends to increase my production speed, which dialogue-heavy written tend to slow me down.**

**I quite enjoyed this chapter, as I love Paninya, her skills as a pickpocket, greatness in evading capture, and her automail legs. **  
**Another reason for my enjoyment was the arm-wrestling competition, and I had known for ages how to get Edwina's automail on show without stripping her (do not call me sexist, but I did not thin it would be appropriate for a female character and I do not think people would do that to a girl).**

**BTW, if you did not understand why I had Edwina and Winter put their luggage in Alphonsa's armour, then here is why.  
****I always wondered why, when characters in a manga/comic/fiction is carrying something, it seems to conveniently disappear when they need to have their hands free. I mean you do not have to explain it in a manga/comic, so I thought to myself, "How can get of Edwina items so she can try to catch Paninya, and the same for Winter when he actually does? Wait, Alphonsa is hollow. Perfect explanation!**

**I hope you enjoyed it, dear readers.**

**Thank you ^_^.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

_**The Value of Sincerity**_

A still bemused Paninya settled herself down onto a fountain in a deserted area of the town. She pulled up her trouser legs, and pulled off her boots.

Kneeling down in front of her, Winter began his examinations, ignoring the still annoyed Edwina and amused Alphonsa sitting on the ground a little way behind him. After a while, Paninya began to feel comfortable with the boy's examination and started discussing various aspects of her legs.

"Wonderful! Wonderful! Wonderful!" Winter happily cried as he flexed the right leg and looked at it intently. "I've never seen this kind of limb before!" He pulled the limb up and closer to his eyes. "Comparing its movement to other types of mechanical limbs, it's more complex, but still able to maintain balance," He lowered the right leg back down again and placed his hand under his chin in thought. "The hidden weapon doesn't detract from the overall aesthetics, and is able to withstand high impact. I suspect it's made from steel, but how's it done…"

"Weather's great, isn't it, Al?" the older Elric asked grumpily.

"I think Winter's found the love of his life…" Alphonsa replied in an unfocused manner, her attention on the young mechanic and pickpocket.

"Oh, Bunny," Winter suddenly said. "Tell me about the maker of your limbs."

"Uh?" Paninya said, surprised at the question. "Sure." She leaned forward slightly and smiled. "He lives in a remote place, so you'll need a guide."

"A guide?" the mechanic repeated.

Paninya leaned forward more as she told him, "I'll take you there! "But only on the condition that you forget what happened today."

Winter did not even think before replying. "Oh, no problem!" He gave the girl a thumps-up.

"_Hey, wait a minute!_" Edwina jumped to her feet and interjected. "Don't make decisions like that, Winter! She attacked a soldier! Me!"

Winter turned to her. "Oh, don't be so petty! It's only a minor problem!"

"_Minor problem? Look what happened to the town!_" the girl pointed behind her to emphasise her point.

The argument swiftly came to a stop as a small group of people approached the alchemist.

"Hey!" said the shop owner Edwina had trapped in a cage. "You're the one who wrecked my shop!"

"The roof of my house's wrecked," said another man.

"You bullied my little darling!" cried an old women, who owned the bulldog that had attacked the girl.

After apologises had been made, the previous conversation (and argument) continued.

"Anyway," Edwina said. "It's all her fault. Give me my watch, back you damn thief!" But Winter and Paninya had quickly began engrossed in their conversation. "_Listen to me!_"

"It's no use, Nee-san," Alphonsa said. "You can't stop Winter once he's made a decision."

"I'm taking you by the mountain path, so you shouldn't carry too heavy stuff," Paninya explained to the male teenager.

"In that case, I'll put my luggage in a hotel," the blonde boy replied. "Any good ones here?"

"Yeah. There's a good one on the high street."

After Winter had taken out his luggage from Alphonsa's armour and placed it in a hotel, Paninya lead the trio along the mountain path. Edwina was still in a bad moon.

"You sure the mechanic lives here?" Winter asked the dark-skinned women.

"The mountain's rich in ore. Good for making mechanical limbs," Paninya told him.

"I see…"

"He's also a loner. That's why he doesn't live in the town."

"Ah…"

The Fullmetal Alchemist again cut across them. "Hey! Give me back my watch, thief!"

"You promised to let me off if I brought to the mechanic's home! We had a deal!" Paninya snapped.

They were now making their way across a robe bridge.

"I'm not the one who made a deal! It was Winter! I don't want this!" the blonde snapped back.

About five minutes later, Paninya pointed ahead. "We're here!"

In front of them were three conjoined stone buildings and a wooden stable in a small clear area amid the mountains. The dark-skinned woman opened the door to one building, hammered onto which was the sign "LeCoulte Mechanics".

"Good morning!" she said with a wave.

A man with short black hair, slightly tanned skin, round glasses, and a bandana, looked up from his work. "Bunny! Why are you up here?"

"I brought some guests today!" the girl threw up an arm to the side, in the direction of the Elrics and Winter, who stood at the door.

"Oh, welcome!" the man said to the trio.

"This is Winter. He's a mechanic," Paninya introduced the boy, who stepped forward and gave a small bow. "He's interested in Mr. LeCoulte's works."

"Didn't expect a boy so young to be interested in mechanics," the shop employee said. "But I suppose if you want to be good, you need to start young."

The three girls and boy looked up as a pregnant woman with fair skin and short, chestnut hair held back with an Alice band came into the room from another one.

"Hey, Bunny," she greeted. "You brought some friends here today?"

"Satella! Afternoon!" the dark-skinned girl greeted cheerfully.

"You came just in time," Satella continued. "I've just made tea and snacks.

"Come and have some!" the man offered.

Winter leaned close Paninya, and confusedly whispered, "Is that Mr. LeCoulte?"

The older female laughed. "No, no."

The bespectacled automail engineer laughed, hearing the conversation. He placed his hands on the woman's shoulders. "I'm Ridel LeCoulte, and this is my wife, Satella." he turned to the Elrics. "What's your names?"

"I'm Edwina," the girl greeted, still in a mood.

"And I'm Alphonsa, her little sister," Alphonsa said with a small bow.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Ridel suddenly said. "I thought you were a man…"

The armour girl sighed. "You're not the first. I wear this armour as a hobby. Strange, I know. Plus it helped save my life once…"

"Incredible! Anyway, we'll take you to the loner," the man said, and led the four teenagers in another room, which was filled with noise of a hammer striking metal. "That's Dominic LeCoulte, my father."

"Mr. Dominic! Good afternoon," Paninya again greeted cheerfully.

She received a scowl in response.

Dominic LeCoulte was a man with tanned skin muscular arms, and a wrinkled, tough, almost stony face. Like Ridel, he wore a bandana, though he also wore work gloves. He certainly looked like loner, and an unfriendly one at that.

"Why are you here again?" he curtly asked Paninya.

"To pay for the legs," the girl responded.

"Forget it!" the man yelled and slammed his hammer down particularly hard.

"Still as brusque as ever!" Paninya laughed with her hands on her hips.

Satella walked over to the doorway. "Mr. Tommy, Bunny brought some guests over. Come have some tea! It's getting late."

"Guest?" the man said, showing the slightest hint of curiosity.

* * *

"Fitting the Carl Cannon is my way of being romantic!" Dominic argued back to Paninya, his arms folded.

After some persuaded, he had settled himself at a table with Paninya and Winter in another room along a hallway of the large house/shop. He had being speaking with them for the best part of half an hour.

"It's not romantic! It's your hobby!" Paninya argued back. "A normal person wouldn't place a weapon in the false legs of a girl!"

"Yes it is! You have no right to criticize my sense of artistry!"

"Yeah! Yeah! It's art!" Winter injected. He raised a finger and, with his eyes closed, explained, "Beside its normal functions, it has a hidden weapon that's not easily detected! The design is indeed a work of art!"

"You sure know a lot, laddy," Dominic commented, looking sideways at the boy.

"Thank you," he responded with a smile.

The two began to discuss the design, leaving Paninya confused and feeling left out.

In the opposite corner of the room, Edwina and Alphonsa were standing with Ridel and Satella. The woman was sitting in a chair.

"It's so touching…being pregnant," Alphonsa said.

"She's due in half a moth," Ridel said, his hands on his wife's shoulders.

"It feels like it's getting heaver and heaver," Satella said with a small laugh.

Edwina, who seemed to have finally been lifted from her grumpy mood by the Satella, asked, "Can I touch your stomach."

"Sure, go ahead!" the woman granted with a smile.

The alchemist placed her hand on the woman's stomach, and swore she could feel the baby moving in its womb-home. "Wow…though I don't really get why, but it's great." She grinned as she took her hand away again. "That's the first time I've touch a pregnant woman's stomach! Hopefully it will bring you luck, giving birth to a healthy baby!"

Alphonsa longed to be able to feel the woman's stomach as well, but know that, in her current state, could not feel it like her sister. "We were just like that in Mum's tummy…"

"Yeah, it's unbelievable," the older Elric replied.

Satella clasped her hands over her stomach, her eyes closed. "Yes…thinking about how a little life is inside me…its really unbelievable…Maybe one day, you'll two will experience that too."

"The baby stays inside their mother for two-hundred-and-eighty days, before coming out into the world," Ridel explained.

"Nobody tells the baby but they come out after that time. Just amazing, isn't it?" his wife added.

"Yeah," Edwina said with a nod, her grin now a gender smile.

"I'm kind of surprised you didn't know that," Satella said. "At your age, girls should know."

"We came out of school before we got onto that," Alphonsa said with an slightly embarrassed giggle.

"Ed!" Winter suddenly called. "Come over here! Quickly!"

Before she walked over to the table, the older Elric felt a wave of uneasiness wash over her.

"Show Mr. Dominic your automail!" Winter said once she had reached him, and Paninya and Dominic.

_I KNEW it…_ the alchemist thought.

The entire group seven moved into Mr. Tommy's building room.

Edwina removed her jacket and stretched out her metal arm.

Dominic examined the limb closely, even going to get a small hammer to tap and check its strength.

"Hmm…iron seventeen percent…steel one percent…" the man said.

"I was thinking of increasing the hardness and making it lighter," Winter explained, his hands behind his back.

"A good choice," the man replied, his voice as gruff as ever. "Using her body as comparison, the arm's too heavy. To the carrier the stress is too much. Perhaps that why she's so underdeveloped and a little small for her age."

"_Wait a minute!_" the blonde cried. "So it's _Winter's_ fault I'm so small? If this arm is lightened, I might grow taller, and look more like a woman?" The girl was filled with giddy joy, and she clasped her hands together. "It's possible!"

"Hmm…so I was right in wanting to change it!" the male teenager observed. "Yes!" The boy stepped forward, bowed once again, and, which still in bowing position and unable to control the volume of his voice, yelled, "_Mr. Dominic! Please accept me as your apprentice!_"

"_Absolutely not!_" the older mechanic gruffly shouted back.

"Huh?" the boy said, looking up. He clasped his hands in a begging motion. "_Please reconsider!_"

"I don't want or need an apprentice, so shut up!" Domini crudely and curtly replied.

"In that case…" Edwina began, and tried to look as sweet and serene as a more feminine woman would. "Just teach him to make automail to help me grow!"

"_No!_" the man shouted.

"What?" the girl cried.

"Mr. Dominic, _please!_" Winter continued to plead.

"I don't want an apprentice! All that extra work and having to be around someone while doing it…"

"Please!"

"No means no! You got that, boy?"

"But how will I ever grow!"

"He'll figure it out on his own!"

"I want to be taught! I want to be one of the best engineers out there!"

The other four just stood there. It was Ridel who stepped forward first thought of something to say.

"I'm sorry, my dad's pretty stubborn. You'd best give up," he told the female and male teenagers.

They sighed in response.

"Hey, go home, now!" Dominic told them.

"They can't, Dad," Ridel said. "It's raining really heavily."

As though to accentuate this point, thunder crashed outside, as a storm had blown up in the half-hour. A further hour later, it was still going strong. Ridel had begun handing out cups of tea (which Alphonsa had to refuse politely).

All members of the group had gone their separate ways in the house.

Edwina had went back into Mr. Tommy's building room, to pester the man about lighter automail. Alphonsa, meanwhile, had gone into another room with Satella to learn more about pregnancy. Finally, Winter was chatting with Paninya in the front room.

Paninya sat on a desk and stretched her legs. "Aww…my legs always ache when it rains…"

"Bunny…why did you have to get automail, anyway?" Winter asked nervously as he held his cup.

The young women's eyes took on a distant look as she told her story. "I was young, poor and couldn't walk. I felt like that it wasn't worth living…"

_A very small and legless Paninya crawled across the Rush Valley alleyway ground, her wheelchair lying useless on its side._

"I only just started walking, then I lost my legs. It's happened in a train crash, a crash that also killed my parents."

Winter gasped. _Yet another person who grew up without a mum and dad…_

_People walked by the little girl, seeming not to notice her, or just ignoring her. Sweat was pouring of her forehead from her efforts._

"I felt as if I was pushing into a bottomless pit!"

_Paninya had given up and was sitting against a wall, a blanket covering her._

"At that time, I had the gaze of a dead person."

_A stone-man walked by her position, and looked at her grumpily._

"_What are YOU looking at?" the little girl snapped with a pout._

"_Kid like you should assume you are the most unfortunate person in the world!" Dominic retorted. He reached out and grabbed the girl's arm. "I hate people like you."_

"_Ah…what…?" the girl stammered in confusion. Dominic tucked the child under one arm. She waved her arms. "Let me go! Let me go!"_

"_Shut up!" the man snapped._

"In the end, he forcefully attached mechanical legs to me."

_Little Paninya stared at the mechanical limbs. "What the hell are these?"_

"Even though recovery was slow…"

_Paninya had been wearing her new legs for about a half a year, and was still struggling to walk, the pain too great._

"But…"

_Another half-year later, Paninya ran outside, now walking and running without any trouble or pain. She stared up at the sky, a smile on her face as the sun warmed her skin._

"When I stood on my new legs, I felt really happy…I could feel the warmth of the sun of my face. These legs really give me hope," she paused to laugh. "That's why I really like Mr. Tommy! Oh course, like you guys too, Mr. Ridel, Winter."

The man and boy also smiled.

"Thank you!" the boy said, sitting himself on the desk next to the older female.

"It's our honour!" the man said.

"He didn't only give me, legs, you know," Paninya continued her story.

_The young girl looked at the paper she had been handed, The calculated money was very expensive._

"_I don't need to pay?" she said in shock._

"_Forget it. Kid like you shouldn't let this disrupt your life," Dominic replied._

"Even if he said that…"

_The girl's doctor walked over and began explaining the calculations to her. Her eyes widened in shock._

"The doctor told me that Mr. Dominic's works fetch a high price at the markets. Really gave me a scare."

"So every time you came here to repay him?" Winter inquired.

"He just won't accept it," Paninya replied, and looked up. "Besides not wanting me to pay, he does maintenance on my legs too! Leaves me speechless!"

Winter fully turned to her and with an encouraging smile said, "Hey, if you really want to repay Mr. Dominic, you should stop being a thief. Take a nice day job or something."

"But if I don't steal, how am I going to pay Mr. Dominic…?"

"Get a good, regular job you'll enjoy and you won't have to steal again. Dominic gave you those legs sincerely. He gave you those legs so you could live happily. Living life to the fullest is the correct way to show you've accepted them and are grateful." The boy paused. "Edwina would probably say this too, it's a fair trade!"

The girl stretched out her leg before her again and looked at it. "Really? You're right. I'll live life to the fullest! For myself and Mr. Dominic!" Her face broke into a smile. "And I'll start by stopping being a thief!" She stood up, and struck a pose. "Then I'll look for a job!"

Winter laughed as well. "Good."

"Ah!" the dark-haired young woman suddenly said, and reached into her pocket. "Speaking of stealing, I forgot to return this to that girl!" She held Edwina's watch.

Winter took and examined it with curiosity.

"This is the State's proof of being an alchemist in the army…" he said. "This is the first time I've seen it! It's beautiful!" He quietly added, "Even if it is to do with something I hate…"

"Uh?" Ridel cried, leaning down. "That kid's actually a member of the military?"

"Looks are really deceiving…" Paninya muttered. She pressed a finger to the watch's top. It was still shut tight. "But, I can't open it! Your friend said 'don't open it!'."

"'Don't open it?" Winter repeated.

A sly grin appearing simultaneously on the each of the group's faces.

"There must be an unspeakable secret inside," Paninya hissed.

"Hehehe," tittered the bespectacled man.

Winter rushed off for a moment, coming up with his hands full of tools.

"Time for me to show my skills!" he proclaimed as he brandished the various tools he had picked up.

"You must like doing this kind of stuff as much as me!" the dark-haired woman said.

After trying almost every screwdriver, drill and even a hammer (none of which even dented the object), the young mechanic eventually resorted a large pin.

"That idiot!" he cried. "Using alchemy to lock it!" He heard a small click. "Got it!" The three leaning in again as Winter opened the watch. "And so, Ed's secret is…um…what…?"

The group were rather disappointed. Instead of some like a secret, forbidden object, or a controversial photo - some words were etched untidily on to the underside of the lid:

**Don't  
****Forget  
****.11**

"'Don't forget, the third of October, year evelen?' What does that mean?" Paninya said. "That's not a very dark secret."

The boy was simply staring at the date. He knew exactly what that date meant, and what it was that could be forgotten. He closed the watch. He felt the familiar wetness pricking his eyes.

"G-give this back to Edwina," he told Paninya, unable to stop his voice from cracking.

"…Winter? Are you OK?" the girl asked as she took the watch and saw the boy wipe his eyes. He did not reply. Instead, he took a deep, steadying breath, and began to walk determinedly towards to the door.

"I'm gonna ask Dominic about becoming his apprentice again. And this time, I'm not going to stop asking until he says yes!" He left.

Paninya and Ridel looked at each other. Suddenly a piercing scream came from somewhere outside the room. Winter burst back inside.

"Mr. Ridel!" he cried. "_Your wife!_"

Paninya and Ridel followed the mechanic without a second thought. In the room in which were Alphonsa and Satella, the woman was lying on the floor, her face screwed up and her teeth clenched with the armour girl crouching worriedly over her.

"Satella!" Ridel cried joining Alphonsa at her side.

"We were just talking and she suddenly cried out," Alphonsa worriedly explained.

"What's wrong, Satella?" Ridel asked franticly.

"I think…I think it's time…" she stammered, and paused. She growled the last word. "Now…!"

"WHAT?" shrieked Alphonsa, Paninya, and Winter.

"But, that's must earlier than expected!" the bespectacled man cried.

"I was feeling unwell this evening…I didn't expect it to be this early…" the pregnant woman gasped.

The door was flung open again, and in rushed Dominic and Edwina.

"_What did you say?_" Dominic shouted.

"The baby's ready…" Satella told him.

"My grandchild! My grandchild's being born!" Dominic cried as everyone else panicked - all expect Satella.

"Everyone, please calm down!" she cried, but no one heard her.

Dominic looked out of a window. The storm had become far worse. "Look at that weather! We can't send her to hospital. I'll bring a doctor here!"

Faster than humanly possible, the automail shop owner rushed pulled on a raincoat and hat and rushed out the door. He grabbed his horse from the stable and galloped out.

"Dad! Be careful!" Ridel called after him.

The man carried his wife into their bedroom and placed her down on the bed with the other four following.

"Just hang on till the doctor gets here," he told her, his voice slightly high.

"I don't know how long I can hang on!" the woman cried, the pain rising.

"Relax! Dad'll get the doctor, you'll see."

Suddenly, everyone heard a cry from outside. "No! This can't be!"

"What is it?" the bespectacled man asked as he, the Elric Sisters, and the blonde mechanic run out into the rain.

"The bridge!" Dominic cried.

It had been burned away by a lightning strike.

"What are we going to do…?" Winter asked in despair.

Edwina stepped forward. "Time for me to show my skills."

She clapped her hands together and placed them on the ground before the bridge. Crackling with energy, a part of the side of the cliff face began to expand, stretching over the gap between the ends of the bridge.

"Yeah! Go Nee-san!" the armour girl cheered.

"Nice one, Ed!" the male blonde cheered, pumped his fists.

The problem seemed to be solved. That was until the makeshift bridge reached halfway across the gap, where it crumbled. Edwina tried to keep the transmutation going, feeding it more energy, but it was no good.

"What? What happened?" Dominic asked.

"Dammit!" the blonde alchemist cried and punched the ground with her right fist in frustration.

"Why did she stop?" Winter asked Alphonsa.

"…Because it got too heavy," the younger Elric sadly replied. "If you're going to build a bridge to the other side, you need lots of materials. But during construction, it got too heavy and couldn't withstand the stress and collapsed under its own weight!"

"The distance is too far to build a bridge…" Edwina muttered to herself, her hand on her forehead. "What are we gonna do…think, think, think!"

Alphonsa joined her sister and two began to think about the problem together. They sketched a diagram on the ground. No one cared that they were being soaked. All they for was a doctor being sought and Satella safely delivering her baby.

"The distance is too great for a bridge," Edwina said.

"How about supports underneath?" Alphonsa asked, drawing them.

"But the water that's flooded the canyon would wash them away…" the older Elric said, and suddenly stood up. She ran to the edge of the cliff.

"We still have to consider the conservation of mass," she thought aloud. "To build such a large object, the materials at hand sure are limited. The bridge will still collapse." She clenched her fist. "Dammit! Isn't there another way!"

"…There's no time. It's dangerous with the damn lightning!" Dominic said. The man began walking to his horse. "There's an old mountain road leading to town. But it's a longer way so it's gonna take more time." He mounted his steed. "Go back in and comfort Satella! All of you!" He galloped away.

Edwina stood up, her arms by her side, as she looked at the ground, causing water to drip from her parted fringe. "State Alchemist…living weapon…" the girl muttered and clenched her fists. "At this important time…I can't do anything…"

Winter walked up to her and placed a hand around her shoulders. The actions surprised the girl.

"There's nothing we can do for Mr. Dominic," Winter said sadly. "Let's go inside and see what we can do for Satella."

The group walked back inside. Taking some towels from the bathroom, they began drying off.

"Ridel! Winter!" Paninya cried, running out from Satella's room. The girl raced over to them and began waving her hands as she cried, "Satella is bleeding water! Lots of water!"

"What?" Ridel ran into the bedroom. "Honey, are you OK?"

"Oh…her water broke!" Winter yelped.

"What? That's bad, right?" Edwina cried, equality concerned.

"She's going to give birth very soon," the boy replied.

The Elrics and Paninya flew into a panic.

"What are we going to do? The doctor's not going to make it in time!" the blonde alchemist shrieked.

One by one, Winter grabbed Paninya by her collar, Alphonsa by the long piece of hair coming out of the top of her helmet and Edwina by her plait and yanking them around him.

"Everyone, you need to calm down!" he said, in what was definitely not a calm voice.

The sisters and the dark-skinned young woman took deep breaths and calmed themselves, as did Winter.

"Mr. Ridel, you need to come here too, please!" he called into the bedroom. The man reluctantly joined them.

"What is it?" the man asked.

"Winter's one of those people that, once their mind's made up, there's no stopping them," Edwina muttered to him.

"Kind of like you, Nee-san," Alphonsa slyly whispered. "You and Winter aren't as different as you think."

"Shut up, Al. We're talking about something else right now."

Winter found himself a apron from the kitchen and put it on.

"Do you have any experience delivering children?" Ridel asked, concerned.

"Nope," the boy replied bluntly as he secured the apron. "But there's no time to argue!" He grabbed a towel and walked unflinchingly towards Satella and Ridel's room, his face full of determination. "Everyone, I need your help. This isn't a one-person job! We're gonna bring that baby out together!"

* * *

**Author's Note: I am disappointed that, with the internet not accepting changes of text style, I could get the style of font I used to show the date etched into the watch. It loses its visual effect without it, I feel.**

**Apart from that, I enjoyed writing this chapter :).**

**I hope you did too, readers, and I am sorry I did not have as much to say this time.**

**I am SO sorry about how late this is. I thought I had uploaded it last month. Please forgive me. The next update may take a while, as my keyboard is messed up beyond repair.**

**I hope you enjoyed it, dear readers.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

_**He Will Do It For Them**_

Winter was now grabbing a bucket and assigning everyone jobs.

"Ed and Al, please get hot water quickly! Bunny, please get more towels! Mr. Ridel, please get Satella another pillow!"

The Elrics did as they were told. Once they had, they handed the steaming bucket to the boy.

"Ridel, do you have disinfectant?" Paninya asked the man, having found three more towels.

"Yes, it's in the kitchen," he replied.

Before she did this, Paninya moved up to Edwina and quietly asked. "You sure letting him do this is OK?"

"We're going to have to trust him," Edwina said. "Besides, I left school before we got to pregnancy and childbirth, so it's not like I can help any more than he can. Winter's parents were doctors. While Al and I grew up reading alchemy books, he grew up reading medical texts."

"But he's never had any real training…" Paninya replied.

"He's going to do this from memory."

"What? But!" the girl stammered, her voice rising almost to a squeak.

"Just trust him!" the younger female snapped in frustration.

She moved away, found a large, metal tub, and handed it to Ridel who brought it into the kitchen.

Winter was now walking towards Satella's room, the bucket, onto which he had thrown the towel he had found, heavy in his hand. He placed his free hand on the handle. He may have sounded confident as he explained things, but inside he was near-enough a nervous wreck. Even though he was the son of two brilliant doctors, he still felt worried.

"Prepare the hot water…disinfectant…" he quietly noted with his hand still on the door. "Did I forget anything? Think…"

"Winter!"

The blonde male looked around to the source of the voice. The Elrics were standing behind him.

"Good luck!" they said in unison with Alphonsa raising her fists.

"…Thank you," the blue-eyed boy said after a few moments.

At that moment, Paninya walked up to them, her arms now full with towels and a bottle of disinfectant.

"Bunny, can you help me?" the mechanic asked, before the young women could even open her mouth.

"Um…" she said, thinking nervously. "OK."

"What you two?" Winter asked, turned back to his best friends.

"Um…" said Alphonsa, in almost the same tone as Paninya.

"We'all stay out here," Edwina.

"Oh…" the boy replied disappointedly. He went into the room along with Paninya and gently closed the door. The Elrics sat next to it. Edwina drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Alphonsa clasped her hands to her head, looking almost as if she were praying, her eyes dark.

Inside the room, everything had been prepared and Satella began to push. The two sisters jumped with fright as a scream split the quiet air.

"_I think I__'__m going to die!_" Satella screamed in a high voice that filling the hallway. The girls hugged each other.

"No, you're not, honey! You're doing fine!" the girls heard Ridel assure her and broke apart.

"_It hurts so much!_" Satella cried.

"Just remember, you'll have a beautiful baby at the end of this!" Winter's voice came through the door.

The screaming went on.

"Al, I hate to admit this, but I'm afraid," Edwina said.

"I guess all we can do in a situation like this is to…pray to God, and hope that it helps, even if us alchemists don't believe He exists."

"You're right," Alphonsa said.

About an hour later, the voices in the room fell silent. The door opening and the two girls looked up. Paninya stumbled out, her clothing damp and skin shiny with sweat. She looked as if she were about to throw up as she sank to her knees.

"Hey!" Edwina cried, as she and Alphonsa crouched beside her.

"Blood…blood…I can't take any more of this…" she said in-between pants, seeming not to notice the teenagers next to her.

The Elrics moved towards the door, and just inside it was Winter. Like Paninya, he was covered with sweat, which caused his hair to be matted, and was panting, as he knelt wearily on the floor.

"What happened?" Edwina cried, kneeling next to the male blonde and gripping his shoulder. "Hey!"

Without a word, the mechanic raised a shaking hand and pointed towards the bed. Edwina's eyes widened and Alphonsa gasped in wonder. Held in Ridel's arms, still covered in blood, but with the umbilical cord cut, was a tiny, crying baby. It was a boy. Despite his prematurely, he looked healthy. Perhaps the Fullmetal Alchemist really had given his mother and him luck.

Satella was covered in as much sweat as Paninya and Winter, but she was smiling, and so was her husband.

"The…the baby's here!" Edwina cried in joy. Despite the blood, it was a beautiful site, a new little life.

"Come see our son, girls," Satella said in a tired but welcoming tone.

The sisters cheered with joy and relief. Everything was going to be fine. Edwina whizzed to the door and yelled out, "What's the matter, Paninya? Scared of a little blood?"

"I can't stand blood…" she whined back.

Edwina returned to inside and to celebrating.

"Good job, Satella!" Ridel said as he handed the baby to his wife.

"We have Paninya and Winter to thank too," Satella replied as she took the child.

Still on his knees, Winter had finally caught his breath.

"Time to wash the baby," Winter said as he removed his apron, but made no move to get up.

"You're right," the women said, she handed the baby back to Ridel and he began to clean him using the now lukewarm water and a towel.

"Can I help?" Alphonsa asked him.

"Sure," the bespectacled mechanic replied with a smile. "I could use some help. You and your sister as nice as your friend, you know."

"Huh?" the armour girl said, confused at the sudden praise. "Well, thank you."

"It's so wonderful!" Edwina cried, happily. "It's just great! Great!"

"You're acting like a little kid…" Winter commented from the floor. Not even as a child did Winter ever remember Edwina acting like this. He expected Alphonsa to be like that, if he was honest, though not in an insulting way.

"Because we have a new life!" the amber-eyed girl replied brightly after turning to him with her arms outspread and a smile on her face. "Alchemists throughout the centuries were unable to create life, no matter what they did, not matter what the materials. But a woman is able to carry a baby to term in nine months! And even if there baby is born early, like this one, it can still survive with love and care."

"Don't compare the gift and sanctity of life to science!" the blonde mechanic snapped from his still-on-the-floor position.

"Oh, sorry," Edwina replied genuinely, rubbing the back of her head. "Alchemy and science is my professional interest. Surely you know that by now." She returned to smiling. "But, it's still wonderful! Humans really are amazing!"

That, Winter liked. He smiled back up at this friend, who moved up next to him.

"You were amazing too. Your mum and dad would be proud!"

"Thank you…" the blonde replied. "I do like it when you praise me."

"Well, you did help a deliver a baby with any incidents." The girl jumped as Winter reached up and tugged at her sleeve.

"Can you help me up?" he asked, his voice suddenly sounding rather meek. "My back hurts and I haven't got the energy to life myself up."

Edwina stood there for a few moments before answering, "Ok."

She reached down and one of her friend's arm, and placed it over her shoulder, holding the wrist to keep it there. She then put her other arm around the boy's body as far as she could reach, and heaved him to his feet. Leaning on his friend, the male blonde was able to walk weakly, even though his legs felt like jelly. They made their way slowly down the hallway.

"Oh!" Winter suddenly said. "There's something I need to tell you."

"What? Edwina asked.

The mechanic's face became sad and guilty. "I-I saw what was written in your silver watch."

"_What?_" the girl cried, letting go off the boy's wrist and body and throwing him of her. He landed on his bottom with a thump and a yelp of pain.

"That hurt!" Winter cried as he moved onto his knees.

"HOW DARE YOU OPEN MY WATCH!" Edwina roared at him. "THAT WAS PRIVATE! WHY DO YOU THINK I HAD IT CLOSED SO TIGHTLY?"

"I'm sorry!" Winter cried, a little afraid. "I'm really sorry! Really…" he bowed his head.

There was a tense moment of silence. Then Edwina grabbed Winter's hand and pulled him to his feet.

"Idiot," she told him bluntly once he was on his feet.

They sat down on a rather out-of-place bench in the hall, Edwina still looking angry with her hands shoved in her pockets, and Winter still looking apologetic and sad, with his hands clasped on his lap, fidgeting slightly.

"Not even Al knows what I wrote on the watch," the older Elric exampled to male teenager.

"Why?" Winter asked nervously.

They took a moment to reply. During this, her expression softened, she drew her hands from her pockets and looked down. "It's a remembrance and warning for myself. This way I will always carry it with me. Although it is a little wishy-washy." Edwina suddenly noticed tears running down Winter's face. "Why are you crying all of a sudden?"

"I'm crying for both of you!" the boy snapped, once again wiping his eyes with his arm.

"Fool," Edwina called him. "I think it would be best if you returned home! Now you know how precious having a family is! Aunt Pinako must be lonely without her grandson! Go back and look after her!"

"No!" Winter cried defiantly, still wiping his face as the tears still flowed strong. He lowered his arm, unable to dry his eyes fully. "Now that I know more, I'm not able to just go home. Seeing that date, the date you burned your home, carved on your watch, I now understand. I have to become stronger! To allow you to journey without regrets, I need to become stronger! Besides, the only thing I am able to create is better automail for you." He looked at Edwina, his tears now gone. "That's why I'm going to try asking Dominic to accept me as his apprentice one more time."

"Good luck then," Edwina told him.

He nodded.

Suddenly the two noticed Paninya, who was still on the ground.

"Hey!" Edwina yelped, standing up. "Bunny!"

The girl looked up as Edwina approached her. Ever since she had left Satella's room, she had been laying on her side on the floor, clutching her stomach. Without a word, the young female thumped her on the head.

"Ouch!" Paninya cried in pain, immediately forgetting about her blood-induced nausea. "What was that for?"

"Shut up! That's for stealing me watch!" the older Elric told her angrily.

"You should have used your left hand…" Paninya sarcastically said, rubbing her head.

"Ok."

The girl did so.

"Ow!" Paninya yelped.

"Ed, stop it!" Winter cried, standing up, but she of course ignored him.

* * *

The three teenagers and the young women had returned to Satella and Ridel's room. Dominic had finally returned with a doctor. As soon as he saw his grandson held in his daughter-in-law's arms, a strange thing happened. His tough, cold demeanour was replaced with one of joy.

"Aw…I'm a grandfather!" he said with a huge smile, and gently poked the baby's nose, causing the child make a small noise in response. "Hey, grandson. My grandson! You're so cute!"

_Stupid granps…_ Alphonsa thought. _You shouldn't poke a baby like that._

_It must be a role reversal…_ thought Edwina, who had re-joined her in the room along with Dominic and the doctor

"I thought I didn't make it," Dominic said with a laugh.

"Both mother and baby are fine. Post-birth is clear too," the doctor concluded after his examination. He turned to Winter and Paninya. "Congratulations on delivering your first baby. You did it as well as any doctor."

"I only tried my best," Winter said, waving his hands in dismissal.

"I didn't really help that much," Paninya added. "I'm afraid of blood."

"This child's early birth really caused you all a lot of trouble," the doctor went on after giving Winter and Paninya another smile.

"Must have been when Nee-san touched Satella's stomach," Alphonsa suggested.

"Because of me?" Edwina shrieked.

"At least the baby's fine. Don't worry," the doctor told her, still smiling.

"Really…thank you all!" Dominic said. "Especially the blonde lad." He moved around on the stool he sat on to face the younger mechanic. "Thank you."

"Really, I didn't do anything that great," Winter said, again raising his hands.

Paninya give him a gentle nudge with her with elbow. "Hey, you did better than me! If it weren't for you, that baby might not even be alive! Just take the compliment!"

Edwina suddenly remembered what Winter had told her. Trying to look as sweet and feminine as a little girl, she approached Dominic, with her hands clasped, and asked.

"Why don't you accept her as your apprentice?" she said in a voice she tried to make as sweet as possible.

That was all it took to return Dominic to his normal gruff demeanour.

"Beat it. It ain't happening," he replied curtly. Everyone's happy faces fell. "I'm grateful for his help, but this is two different matters! Once again, I don't want or need an apprentice! And his parents must be worried about him."

Winter said nothing. He did not feel like explaining that his parents were long dead and that he only had a grandmother.

"Damn it! Looks like there's still no chance," Edwina told her friend.

"He' right, though," the armour girl said. "He shouldn't leave Aunty Pinako all alone…"

"Pinako…?" Dominic repeated, his tone changing to one of nervousness. "Rizenbul's Pinako Rockbell…?"

"Pinako is my grandmother," Winter explained.

Everyone jumped as Dominic fell off his stood, landing on the floor with a thud, his eyes bulging. Again, his gruff demeanour had fallen away, replaced this time by fear, an emotion he almost never had. Everyone's expressions became confused.

"Pinako Rockbell's grandson…" Dominic whispered.

"Did you and Granny-" the blonde boy began, but the older male cut across him.

"_Don't ask!_" he almost-shouted, raising a hand in a stopping position to emphasize his point. He the clamped his hands on either side of his face, images of a laughing, dark-red-pink haired women whirling around inside head. "_I don't want to remember those painful memories! Just remembering that woman terrifies me…!_"

"I knew Aunty Pinako could be scary…but I didn't think she was that bad," Alphonsa saids

"And Winter takes after her…" Edwina muttered quietly, so no one could hear her.

He suddenly returned to normal. "Forget it. I don't care if you _are_ blood relations with that woman. I'm not taking you on."

Winter lowered his head, but raised it again when the older mechanic reached out and ruffled his hair. The other six were surprised as well.

"If you really want to learn, I can introduce you to a good mechanic," Dominic told him.

"Can I come here to learn?" Winter asked.

"I don't want you coming here to disturb me!" the man snapped, before lowering his voice again and awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. "But…if you did come here to see my grandson then I guess it's ok."

"What about the other three?" the blonde male asked further.

"Good-for-nothings can come too!" the older mechanic declared.

The three female teenagers smiled.

Dominic took a piece of paper and a pen, and quickly sketched a map, explaining as he did so.

"If you go by the old trail and beyond, you'll reach South Hood," he said, drawing a line from his home to the small town. You can then ride the carriages back to Rush Valley."

Half an hour later as evening approached, Ridel had kindly made Paninya a small box of food wrapped in cloth and the Elrics had made their goodbyes. Three teenagers and the man were now standing outside. The rain had stopped and

"Hopefully there's enough food for three. Remember to get someone to come out from the town to fix the bridge, ok?" He asked Paninya as he handed her the box.

"Got it," the young girl replied. "And thanks."

"You're welcome," Ridel replies before turning to Winter. "Once you get to Rush Valley, look for a mechanic called Garfied. He's pretty skilled, and I held he was looking for a helper." The boy nodded. Ridel turned finally to the Elrics. "As for you two, have a safe trip."

Due to the cooling air, Winter had opted to tie his jacket around his hips for easy access. Edwina already wore hers.

The group set off, waving until they could no longer see Ridel. The road, being old was a little dangerous. Somehow, all three girls and the boy almost fell to their deaths at one point or another.

They arrived in South Hood about one-and-a-half hours later. Just like Rush Valley, it was abuzz with activity, though in more a rural fashion. Horse-drawn carriages travelled in a neat, one direction flow, people worked in various food shops, and children played games with chalk and marbles. The air was full of smells: meat, bread, and that peculiar smell horses produced.

"They don't charge much for the carriages," Paninya explained as the foursome tried to look for an empty one. "Only ten cens a person."

"Have you been here before, Bunny?" Winter asked.

"No, never found the time," the older female replied. "I'm going on what I've heard."

They walked further until Edwina pointed ahead and cried, "There's one with space!"

They made their way to it and flagged it down. The price was as Paninya had said, though Edwina was annoyed at, being the one person carrying money, had to pay the full forty cens by herself.

They settled into one of the benches carved on each side of the cart. Alphonsa could feel multiple eyes trying to discreetly inspect her. The journey would take a good while, Paninya had heard, so she handed some things from the box (Alphonsa excused herself by simply stating she was not hungry). One of foods was sandwiches, homemade with crusty bread and various delicious fillings. The three finished the sandwiches hungrily.

As the journey went on, Winter was slowly being rocked to sleep by the gentle swaying of the carriage. The fact that he now had a full stomach did not help. He tried to stay awake, his head nodding forward every now and then only for him to yank it back up a moment later. Eventually, sleep won the battle. He accidently slumped onto Paninya's shoulder, giving the young women a little jolt. However, when she saw the boy was asleep, she smiled.

"Aw, how cute," Alphonsa said. "You two look like a couple!"

"Don't say that!" Paninya cried, though her voice hinted at amusement. Edwina said nothing, not daring to admit that she too thought the image of Winter asleep was cute.

* * *

After arriving back in Rush Valley about three hours later, after Winter had collected his bag from the hotel, he, the Elrics, and Paninya had found the mechanic Garfied in his shop in only twenty minutes. He seemed to well known. He was rather unusual, being strikingly feminine in his mannerisms. He had scrutinised the boy, examined his tools and questioned him. Finally, though, he had accepted the boy's apprentice request, say he would be happy to accept a "such a handsome and cute lad". Although uneasy with the statement the man had made in regards to him, Winter was happy.

With Winter's apprenticeship gained, the Elrics decided that they could go to Dublith. With Winter and Paninya close behind (they wanted to say goodbye at the station) they were rushing towards a departing train.

"Al! Quickly!" Edwina cried as they raced down the platform, the armour girl clanking loudly.

Alphonsa managed to jump into the train and catch Edwina's suitcase (which the older girl had taken from inside her armour).

"I guess I'll just say goodbye right now!" Winter said breathlessly. "Have a safe trip!"

As the older girl continued to chase the train she turned her head back to Winter and replied. "You too! You better train hard!" She managed to leap onto the back of the train, swinging her legs over the railing. "Granny must be really worried now! Better give her a call!"

"I don't need you to remind me!" Winter called back as he and Paninya came to a half, no longer able to run. They took a moment to catch their breaths. The train was now at a distance where they had to shout.

"You better steak some new techniques from that old man!" the older Elric called before letting out a laugh.

"Leave it to me!" the mechanic shouted, as he and Paninya raised an arm in a wave.

"Oh, and Paninya…" Edwina shouted, her voice suddenly becoming stern.

"Huh?" the dark-skinned women said in confusion.

"Don't you dare try anything! You'll have me to answer to if you do!"

The train left their sight.

"What did she mean by that?" Winter asked in confusion as he turned to his new friend.

"I think she thinks I fancy you," she replied. "Must be protective, eh? In the carriage, you fell asleep on my shoulder, and I watched you, so she—"

"What?" the boy cried.

"Haha, don't worry! I just like you as a friend," the girl told him. "I just thought you looked cute. It was the girl in the armour who said we look like a couple."

"Oh…" Winter said. He would have liked someone having a crush on him.

"I'll…go call Granny," the blonde mechanic told her after a pregnant and awkward pause. "You don't need to wait for me. I'll be staying with Garfied for now on. Of course, I'll visit."

"Oh, OK," Paninya said. "See you soon, then."

Winter proceeded to Garfiel's shop while Paninya returned to Satella and Ridel's home. After getting Garfiel's permission, Winter called home. After hearing the usual greeting of "This is Pinako Rockbell of 'Rockbell Automail'," and replying, "Granny, it's me," he told the women everything that had happened since he had left.

"Really? At Rush Valley?" Pinako said, impressed that her grandson had achieved such a position.

"Are you OK with this?" Winter asked worriedly. "You won't be lonely?"

"Don't worry," the old women replied. "Just focus on your training."

"Right. Oh yeah, Ed and Al left for their teacher's place."

"Those girls really are wanderers!"

"Look after yourself," Winter told her.

"Look after yourself too," Pinako told him. After making their goodbyes, they placed down their receptive phones. Den, who had been sitting next to her mistress (she had been more protective since the smaller male human had left), looked up as she sighed.

"The house looks so empty," Pinako said as she looked around.

Den, sensing something was wrong, stood up, walked over to her mistress and nuzzled and circled in she hoped was a comforting manner. However, she turned and fled to the next room when the women grabbed a broom.

"I'm not a kid!" she cried. "I'm not lonely!" But once she knew the dog was gone, she sighed again. "Really..."

She walked over to a set of drawers on top of which were several framed pictures. She focused on the one depicting a very young Edwina, Alphonsa, Winter and Den playing.

"All this time I thought those sisters were just children..." the old women said to herself. "They're not. They're young women. I see that now. They decided on their own path and started to walk down it...and Winter too..."

* * *

The Elric Sisters looked around the Dublith train station. Their previous fear at visiting their teacher had returned, giving them no time to enjoy the southern town's warn weather, which, unlike Rush Valley, was not uncomfortably so. Dublith shared a similar layout to Rush Valley. It also had a plank of black-painted wood on two wooden poles, announcing its name in carved letters.

The girls made their way straight to the butcher shop, knowing that if they delayed they may not go at all. They took a moment to calm and brace themselves before entering.

"We're here," Edwina said, unable to hide her nerves.

"Yup," Alphonsa said, equality afraid.

"I hope Sensei isn't home..." Edwina said.

"Yup," Alphonsa repeated.

The two girls jumped with fright and fell on their bottoms (Alphonsa with a loud crash) as someone slammed the door open with a shout of "_Welcome!_"

The girls looked up.

"Edwina? That you?" the person, a man with spikey, black hair said, approaching the pair. "Long time no see!"

"Mr. Mason?" Edwina said. She and the armour girl were relieved. "Hello!"

Mason laughed and patted the blonde's head. "You're as short as ever!"

_I hate you..._ she thought before shoving his hand aside and standing up.

"And who are you? What's with the armour?" Mason said, looking at Alphonsa as she stood.

"It's Alphonsa," the younger Elric told him.

"Alphonsa...?" Mason repeated in a confused tone. "You've gotten tall..."

"No, no," the girl replied, waving her hands. "It's just the armour that makes me _look_ tall. Plus, this saved my life a few years ago. I wear it because of that."

"Are you here to see Izumi?" The sisters nodded nervously. "You're just in time. He just got back from a trip. Wait here, I'll go get him." Mason darted back inside. "Mr. Izumi! You've got visitors! Special guests!"

"Wait, did he say 'him' and 'Mister'?" Edwina asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Alphonsa said. "Maybe he thinks we're here is to see teacher's husband? But he said Izumi..."

"_Mr._ Izumi."

"So he calls him that? I never noticed before..."

"Special guests?" Mason's boss repeated. He walked towards the door. For someone wearing slip-on saddles, his footsteps were very heavy. The Elrics were afraid, as the first thing they saw was a large butcher's knife, dripping with blood and smelling of animal flesh. They looked up.

Even without the knife, the husband of Izumi Curtis, Sid, would have been none the less intimidating. He was a huge, tanned-skin man with black hair and a rather thick moustache and beard. He was one of only a few people in the whole of Amestris that could rival Major Alex Armstrong in muscles and height.

"Ah…" he said in his deep voice, noticing the sisters. "It's you two. Haven't seen you in a while."

"H-hi!" Edwina stammered.

"H-how are you…" Alphonsa squeaked.

* * *

**Author's Note: I hope you have forgiven me for the accidental delay for the last chapter, dear readers. The next one may take a while too, as I am having problems with my new laptop.**

**In order to be able to write this chapter, I had to get a whole new laptop. It is basically the same the old one, but looking a little different (it came from the same maker, though). It does not contain Microsoft Works, and the one I transferred to the new laptop would not accept it, so I must use a whole new word processing program. I am still getting used to it. I am glad accepts it . I am sorry that it took longer than usual, I have been busy.**

**Just to say, I myself do not find anything strange unusual about feminine men, and I hate those who do. I do think the people of the 1900s most definitely would, though. As a matter of fact, I must prefer feminine men over masculine men.**

**You may have noticed the little Winter/Paninya moments in this chapter, well the reason for that is I am a bit of a Yuri fan-girl so, I used to pair Winry and Paninya (as well, anything is better than cliché EdWin in my opinion), so I thought Winter/Paninya made a cute pairing too.**

**I hope you enjoyed it, readers ^_^.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

_**The Terror of the Teacher**_

When he observed the two visitors, Sid began to disbelieve Mason's word. However, he noticed the distinctive gold-amber eyes the Elrics processed.

"Edwina?" he said.

Edwina smiled in relief. The man reached out and pulled the girl into his arms. "You're back. And you've grown!"

Just like Armstrong, Sid's tough appearance belied a usually kind heart. Also like Armstrong, his embraces were lung-squeezing tight. After placing the older Elric down, the butcher turned to the younger one.

"I can't believe that's you, Alphonsa," he told her. "Mason was right. It does make you look really tall. You dwarf your sister." The Fullmetal Alchemist supressed her anger at that statement. "Still, I guess you do have a good reason to wear it, according to Mason." He hugged her as well. Inside her head, she was beaming brightly.

_This is the first time someone has hugged me properly since I became a suit of armour..._ she thought in bliss once the embrace stopped.

"So, why are you two back," Sid asked the older alchemist, after seeing that Alphonsa had gone into her own world.

Edwina felt the nerves returning, and rubbed the back of her head as she replied, "I have some questions for Sensei..."

"Then, let's go!" Sid immediately replied. He turned and shouted into the doorway, "Mason, look after the shop for a while!"

"Ok!" Mason called from within.

The trio headed for the Curtis couple's house. As they did so, Edwina asked, "How is Sensei?"

"She's quite healthy, although she's sick at the moment," the man explained.

They reached the house. Sid moved around to the bedroom window, while the girls waited at the front door, and called, "Hey, Izumi, the Elrics sisters are here to see you!"

The alchemy teacher lowered the book she was reading and put it down before her on the bed. "Edwina and Alphonsa Elric?"

"How many Elrics do we know?" Sid asked with a slight laugh. "Can you get up?"

"Don't worry, I'm fine," Izumi replied.

If Sensei's not feeling well, maybe she'll be sleeping," Alphonsa hopefully suggested.

"Yeah, but let's not do anything to worsen her condition, it might make her more agitated.

"Ok."

A second later, the Fullmetal Alchemist found out just how 'fine' Izumi Curtis was that day, painfully so. She was sent flying by a powerful kick to her chest from a sandal-clad foot. Alphonsa could only watch in horror as her sister flew past her and landed a few feet away.

"_News of you has reached us, my foolish student!_" the middle-aged woman shouted, stamping her feet onto the ground and folding her arms. "_You actually became a dog of the military?_ _Well? _EXPLAIN YOURSELF!"

"Don't push yourself, Izumi," Sid said with concern as he lifted a dazed Edwina to her feet. The older Elric stumbled for a few minutes before the dizziness faded and she could stand.

The alchemy teacher noticed Alphonsa trying to sneak away. "Who's the walking tin can?"

_Drat..._ the girl mentally squeaked. She turned to her teacher and raised her hands in defence. "I-It's me, Sensei..."

The woman's expression broke into a smile. "Al! How tall you've grown! And what a strange outfit." She extended a hand to the girl.

"I haven't changed that much, Sensei— Ah!"

As soon as the younger Elric had taken her hand, Izumi had used it to throw her over her head and slamming onto her back with little effort.

"Not enough training..." Izumi muttered as she walked back to the door and turned around.

"Isn't Sensei supposed to be sick?" Alphonsa quietly asked Sid, but the woman's sharp ears picked it up,

"What are you saying?" she snapped, jabbing a finger at the armour girl. "This is because you guys came from so far away-" the woman cut herself by several blood-filled coughs. Sid was by her side in a flash.

"I told you not to push yourself!" he cried.

After wiping her mouth, Izumi wrapped her arms around her husband, and said, a voice unusually sweet, "Sorry for making you worry, honey."

"Don't speak! We made a promise," Sid replied.

The Elrics sighed, seeing they were safe for now.

"Anyway, it's good to see you guys!" Izumi turned the Elrics and said, as if the previous events had never happened. "Come in, we'll talk inside."

The four went into the house and each took a seat at the dining table, where the sisters explained their story and situation.

Contrary to her sickness, Izumi's appearance was that of a woman fit, healthy and slim. She looked young for her age, which was her late thirties. She processed a curvaceous, yet well-toned figure, fair, almost pale, skin, and below-the-shoulder hair in micro-braid dreadlocks held in a high ponytail with one on each side of her face. Like Colonel Mustang, she processed onyx-coloured eyes. Finally, her most defining and unique trait was a red Flamel tattoo on the left side of her collarbone, displaying her knowledge in the field. She wear a simple outfit: a sleeveless shirtdress (which revealed her sizable bust) with three-quarter length black trousers and slip-on sandals.

Another thing about Izumi one may not notice at first was, despite her fearsome temper, she was mostly a kind, motherly woman. Once she had gotten to know them, she and her husband had begun to treat the Elric Sisters like their own daughters, though neither had noticed.

"The Philosopher's Stone, eh?" the alchemy teacher repeated once her students had finished explaining as she rubbed her chin. "I'm not interested in stones."

"I was hoping you'd know something about it, Sensei," Edwina said disappointedly.

"Are you reaching this legendary item?" Izumi suddenly asked.

"No...I'm just curious!" Edwina replied in a slightly high voice.

"Come to think of it, on our travels at Central City, we met an alchemist who was really into stones," Sid interjected.

"Oh, that man!" Izumi remembered, "That's it...I think his name was...Hoenheim!"

The blonde girl's eyes widened and the armour girl gasped.

"What's he like?" Alphonsa asked eagerly, while Edwina, of course, remained silent. Alphonsa could almost feel the rage that was beginning.

"He was pretty tall, light golden-blonde hair, glasses, and was kind of modest. I didn't know his age, but I'd say he was in his forties. He was also kind of macho!"

Sid faltered.

"Oh, you're more macho, don't worry!" Izumi reassured him.

"He's still alive..." Alphonsa muttered.

"You guys know him?" Izumi asked.

"He's our...he's our father."

"Oh, the one who left home? That's good, right? That I ran into him? Not that I think running away is good or anything. Maybe he's still in Central City."

"_That bastard!_" the older Elric suddenly shouted, thumping her fists on the table. "_I will NEVER ask that bastard for help!_"

There was a moment of tense, and for Izumi and Sid, shocked silence.

"Then...what did Father say?" Alphonsa asked after a few moments. Edwina again remained silent.

"He said something about fulfilling his long lost dream," Izumi told the younger of students regardless. "Though, he looked pretty happy."

After this, the conversation took a rather more dark tone. However, the mood was lightened somewhat by the arrival of Mason and the serving of dinner. Once again, Alphonsa sadly refused. She wondered just how many times it was now that she had had to refuse delicious, home-made meals.

"Really? There's a person that evil?" Mason asked though a mouthful of noodles.

"I was pretty mad then!" Edwina explained through a bite of bacon. "So, I tricked the Eastern Corps Colonel.

"That idiot!" Izumi interjected though a sip of tea. "If I had that book, I could live easy."

"Kids shouldn't be doing such dangerous stuff," Sid said while biting into a chicken drumstick.

"I would like to live to peaceful life but Nee-san would rather" Alphonsa began, only for Edwina to angrily cut her off.

"Don't put all the blame on me!" she snapped.

"But, you were the one who decided we would try to restore ourselves by travelling..." Alphonsa quietly replied, hoping her sister would not hear. Luckily, for once, that seemed to be the case.

"You guys must have caused a lot of trouble out on your travels," Mason playfully accused.

"It doesn't usually happen!" Alphonsa quickly lied, once again waving her hands.

"We witnessed a birth in Rush Valley," Edwina tried to change the subject.

"We helped in the delivery, Sensei" Alphonsa further lied.

"No we didn't!" the older girl immediately corrected. "We just waited outside the birthing room, praying!"

"Well, thanks to everyone helping, both the mother and the baby were saved," Alphonsa explained.

Izumi smiled. "You guys were born like that too I bet." She paused. "That's why you have to treasure your lives."

Edwina smiled slightly. "Speaking of which, Sensei, didn't you have kids? I realised we never asked—"

Mason managed to speak before Izumi, as he saw Izumi's subtle change in expression.

"Edwina-chan!" he cried, a little louder than he had hoped, surprising the Elrics. He fumbled for a new topic. "Ummm…uh…oh yeah! How's your alchemy coming along?"

The sisters said nothing, glancing at each other.

"Um…what I mean is…can I see the fruits of your training?" Mason asked.

"Oh, sure!" the older Elric said, upon realisation, of course. "We've been experimenting ever since we got back." The two of stood up.

"Just as Sensei said, we have been training our bodies too!" Alphonsa continued. "Now we can create large objects."

"Yeah! But actions speak louder than words, Al," Edwina told the younger girl. The two of them went over to the door. "Come on, Sensei, Mr. Mason, we'll show you outside." They left. Of course, both knew there was one thing they would not show their teacher, and not only because of her temper.

"Izumi..." Sid began in a worrying tome.

"I'm fine! I'm fine!" she again reassured her husband with a smile. "I must say, letting those girls watch the birth of a new life is a valuable experience. It'll help prepare them for the time they might go through it, and remember, that, no matter how painful it is, it's worth it in the end."

Sid did not know what to say.

The alchemy teacher stood. "Let's go."

Sid followed her, still thinking. Once he, Izumi and Mason were outside, Alphonsa drew a Transmutation Circle with her chalk. She clapped her hands and placed them on the circle and concentrated hard. It activated, and with the trademark lightning flourish, the ground rose and formed into a rather beautiful model of her horse.

_This has to be one of my best works!_ The armour girl happily thought to herself.

"Pretty detailed work," Izumi congratulated her.

"Ok, my turn," Edwina said. She clapped her hands together and placed them on the ground. Izumi's eyes widened in shock. The ground rose up and formed into a winged horse, though it was undoubtedly a lower quality then her sisters. Alphonsa let a giggle.

"Nee-san's creation isn't as detailed as mine," she teased lightly. It was the opposite of the dog transmutation years ago.

"What, you got a problem with my work?" Edwina retorted.

"You need a Transmutation Circle?" Izumi asked, her voice rather monotone.

"Um...yes..." Edwina replied in a slightly high tone. She and Alphonsa could always tell when one of both of them might be in trouble with the alchemy teacher. They feared it more than anything else in the world. Izumi's face had become stern.

"Edwina..." she hissed.

"Yeah...?" the girl nervously responded, her voice still high.

"There's only one thing this could mean..." the teacher continued in that low, hissing voice. "You saw that _thing_."

"What?" Edwina asked, feigning confusion.

"That thing. You saw it, right? You did what it takes to see it."

The younger alchemist gave up, and lowered. "Yes. I've seen it." For once, she did not care that Izumi would become angry. She waited for the rage, the winding punch – but neither came.

"That's why you were called a genius, and received the acceptance of the state at such a young age…" The teacher's voice was no longer hissing, but still stern.

"I'm not a genius," Edwina told her. "I just saw that thing…" She dared look up. She, Alphonsa and Sid were surprised. Although her whole expression showed anger and disappointment, Izumi's eyes held sorrow. "Sensei…?"

"Mrs. Curtis!" a young voice cut across the tense scene. Everyone turned to see a group of three young boys approach the woman. They stopped for a moment of gawking at the people the woman was standing with before surrounding her.

"We'll continue this afterwards," she told the Elrics quietly. They were not relived. Sid, however, breathed a sigh of relief. Mason approached him and put his arm around his broad shoulders much as possible.

"You don't need to be so worried, Boss," he told him a laugh, attempting to lighten the mood. "Let's go back to the shop." They did so.

Izumi churched next to the boys. "What's the matter?"

"My train's broken," the one with a cowlick explained, holding up the object. "Please fix it!"

"OK. I have tools in my house," the woman replied and straightened up. She walked back to the house with the children following.

"Why use tools?" the same boy asked.

"My dad said 'Mrs. Curtis is a powerful alchemist'," the second child, holding a lollipop, commented.

Izumi ignored him and entered her home. The Elrics waited outside. Izumi placed the train on the dining table, located her toolbox and placed it next to the toy.

"We don't need alchemy for this!" Izumi explained. "We just need our hands, watch-"

"But using alchemy would be easier and quicker," the lollipop boy again commented.

"And cooler!" the boy who owned the train added.

"Shut up or I won't fix it!" the woman snapped. As much as she liked children, she hated that they could be quite annoying at times. "The axle of the wheel just broke." She repaired the train in no time with a screwdriver, hammer and a fresh nail, and handed it back.

"Ew...it's ugly!" the train-owner complained.

"Mrs. Curtis's skills suck!" the last, black-haired one said while laughing.

"Ungrateful, noisy whelps!" Izumi shouted. "If you don't want to have them fixed, look after your toys!"

The train-owner laughed. "Thank you, Mrs. Curtis. I do like the work."

The children trotted outside. "We'll bring it back if it needs fixing again!"

"I told you to look after them!" Izumi reminded them as she walked back outside. Once the boys were out of earshot, she trued to the Elrics. Before she could get a single word out, a sad, this time female voice called. "Mrs. Curtis..."

Izumi turned to see a familiar little girl, nicknamed 'Manny', slowly approach her, her face full of nothing but sorrow and a small, furry bundle clutched in her arms.

"Has something happened?" Izumi asked crouching down again as the girl walked up to her.

"Chiko's not moving," the girl told her sadly. "Please fix her."

The Elrics noticed the furry bundle was a cat. Izumi took her from Manny and felt for a pulse.

"Manny...she's dead," Izumi said gently, thinking it was best to be honest.

"Isn't she broken?" Manny asked, not fully understanding.

"No. She's dead, sweetheart. No one can fix that."

"But, I thought you can fix anything, Mrs. Curtis"

"Not everything. Some things are beyond repair."

"Even Chiko?"

"Manny..." Izumi gently took the girl's hand and placed it on her chest, over her heart. "Living things are different from toys. Do you feel that thumping in your chest?"

"Yes," the girl replied. "Mummy told me that's my heart."

The middle-aged woman moved Manny's hand to her chest. "Do you feel my heart?"

"Yes."

"Well, living things like you and me have a 'heartbeat', a 'life'," Izumi explained, then moved Manny hand over the cat's heart. "Chiko has no heartbeat. That means her life has ended. Once the heartbeat stops, not even a doctor can make it start again."

"I don't understand...yesterday she was fine..." Manny burst into tears, finally realising what the alchemy teacher was telling her.

Izumi placed a hand on her shoulder. "Although I can't bright her back to life, I can make Chiko a nice grave."

"A grave?" the girl asked through her tears.

"Yes. It's wear you put people when their life ends. Animals can have it too. Would you like that?"

"...Y-yes."

"Ok."

Taking Manny by the hand and carefully holding Chiko in her free arms. She took her back home, and explained the situation to her mother. Edwina and Alphonsa decided to come along and help. Working together, Izumi, Edwina, Alphonsa and Manny's mother dug a grave and placed a blanket-wrapped Chiko in the hole. They all said their goodbyes. As they walked back, the woman returned to speaking to the two girls, though in much more calm voice than before.

"'Life will come to an end, a return to the dust from which we came'," she quoted.

Instead of leading them back to her house, the alchemy teacher took her students onto a grassy hill that overlooked Dublith. A light wind swept over the high place, wafting through their clothes and hair. Once they had stopped, she continued speaking, but did not look at the girls, instead looking out over the town.

"'The spirit becomes memories, living in the minds of people. Everything changes, the same as with human life'. Though I know this for a fact, it was difficult to tell that little girl."

After a moment, Edwina asked "Sensei...do you think...we could revive a dead person?", so that she would know how to explain herself when the time came.

"Yes," Izumi replied. The sisters were taken aback slightly. Izumi turned her slightly, and suddenly moved onto a new topic. "Ed, you think being an army dog is a good idea?"

The younger alchemist lowered her head in shame. "...Since I began being one. When I'm called a 'living weapon', I don't know if it means I'll have to take someone's life. I get afraid sometimes."

"But you'll do this to accomplish your dreams?" The woman probed further.

The teenager's expression and emotions changed to determination. "I have a dream to fulfil no matter what!"

Izumi's response was another flooring kick.

"_It looks like you didn't just break my rules!_" the alchemy teacher roared, back to being furious with her students. She placed her hands on her hips. "Al, your armour…it's empty inside!" The younger Elric froze in the action of helping her sister sit up. "And Ed, you have a mechanical arm!" Edwina once again felt shame washing over her.

"H-How—" Alphonsa began, only for Izumi to interrupt.

"_How do I know? When I threw Ed, the left and right sides of her body made different sounds! And as for you, Al, you sounded hollow! You think I'm stupid? Don't take me for a fool! What happened to you both? _SPEAK UP!"

And Edwina did explain. She explained everything. Their father's leaving; their discovery and self-teaching of alchemy; their mother's death; Winter's parent's deaths in the Ishval war (along with the boy's tearful sorrowful and their failed attempt to cheer them up the dogs they had transmutated earlier that day); the failed Human Transmutation attempt that took Edwina's arm and leg and Alphonsa's whole body; the choice to restore their bodies; Edwina joining the Military as a State Alchemist; the search for the Philosopher's stone, and their discoveries about which; everything. They even reminded their sensei of their meeting and the trail on Yock Island…

* * *

**Author's Note: Sorry for another long delay, dear readers. My computer had a major breakdown and I could not write for weeks. Also, sorry that this chapter does not have much original content (I sometimes worry I am not putting enough into the story in general). Am I?**  
**This is not exactly helped by the fact that I have writer's block regarding my original stories, and that fact that I am getting a lot of hospital appointments lately (all with stupid tests) and I am going on _another_new medication.**

**I was going to say something else about this chapter, but I have forgotten it at the moment. I will say it if I remember it.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy it and I have not angered any of you.**

**Thank you ^_^.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

_**The Sister's Secret and the Teacher's Trail**_

The Elric Sisters had first met Izumi in 1908, four years after their mother's death. It was during a week of near-constant heavy rainfall in and Rizenbul, as Edwina remembered. One night during this week, she and Alphonsa were awaked from another sleep in their father's study by the hammer of rainfall on the roof and commotion outside. Pulling on their raincoats, the two children made their way outside, and towards the chaos - the Rain River. They were drenched in minutes.

What seemed the vast majority of the village's men were gathered on the bank, and the sisters, watching from the stone bridge, saw the normally pleasantly water was throwing up angry waves, and was threatening to burst its banks at any moment.

"This has got to be the heaviest rainfall in sixty years!" one of the men cried.

"Get the sand bags here, hurry!" the one in change, a middle-aged man, ordered.

The men quickly began piling the sand bags along the bank, but it was no good.

"It's still overflowing!" one of the workers yelled in defeat.

"Let's get out of here!" another added, clearly frightened.

"Get to higher ground now!" the de facto leader bellowed. "The bank's about to burst!"

Everyone quickly cleared the area. One of the younger members of the group ran across the bridge and spotted the sisters on his way.

"What are you kids doing here?" he asked, halting.

"Um…" Edwina said, not knowing what to say.

"Oh, never mind! Just get outta here!"

"Nee-san…?" Alphonsa said questioningly, seeing that the girl was not focusing on her or the man. Her attention was focused on a new, female arrival to the riverbank. She was a woman with black, micro-braid dreadlocks, wearing, ironically, a sundress and jacket. She also bore a determined, focused expression. Alphonsa and the man looked at her too.

Noticing the newcomer, the leader called to her, "Hey, madam—"

"It's dangerous here, you better leave," Izumi Curtis said calmly.

"That's my line!" the leader cried.

Izumi ignored him and clapped her hands together and placed them on the ground. Alphonsa gasped as both sisters recognised the resulting reaction as alchemy. Everyone else's eye widened as their jaws dropped.

The reaction caused the ground to rise up around the riverbank, forming into a sturdy wall.

"This should hold for a while," Izumi said coolly.

The Elrics then spot another newcomer, making his way over to Izumi. Though, it was not like he was hard to spot, being so tall.

"You guys better re-enforce that wall," Sid told the village men as he held an umbrella over his wife's head.

"Um…yes!" the leader said. The others did so.

"Sorry for making the ground sink," Izumi said.

"It's OK. But, I don't get it…in a matter of seconds…who are you?"

Izumi smiled. "I'm all you see: a normal housewife." Suddenly, the woman leaned forwards and threw up blood. The sisters jumped.

"Izumi!" Sid cried, and took his wife by the shoulders. "Someone get a doctor, please!"

The sisters looked at each other, and began formulating an idea.

Half an hour later, Izumi was sitting in a bed in the village doctor's house, her husband and several residents (including the Elrics, Winter and Pinako, but not before Pinako had dried the girls), along with the doctor himself, gathered around her. After the doctor had checked her over and gave the all clear, she began to explain herself and answer the influx of questions.

"Tourists from the east, eh?" one man said after the woman had answered his question. "That's quite a bit away."

"We just happened to pass by, and by chance helped you," Izumi replied.

"Now we're in your debt!"

"You've got incredible alchemy, Mrs. Curtis," a ponytailed young labourer commented.

"Oh, are you a State Alchemist?" asked a middle-aged male.

"I'm just a butcher's wife, a simple housewife," Izumi replied, and gestured to Sid. "And this is my husband!" Sid shifted uncomfortably.

"So, what part of the west are you from?" asked a young woman.

"Dublith," Izumi replied.

"Ah, I had a hunch it was that."

After hearing this, Edwina turned to Alphonsa and leaned in close so the Rockbells would not hear, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Al?"

"Yeah!" Alphonsa hissed back.

The two made their way to the front of the group, their faces full of determination.

"Hey, old lady!" Edwina shouted, catching Izumi's attention.

"Please accept us as your apprentices!" the girls shouted in unison.

Izumi responded by leaping out of the bed, and with an amazing feat of strength, pushed the bed into the two girls, causing them both to be slammed against the wall. The group stood there, speechless. Pinako was angry, but confused at why the Elrics had asked such a thing in the first place.

"_Who are you calling 'old lady'?_" Izumi yelled at the two.

"Izumi, I'm sure they didn't mean any offence." Sid said, even though he knew, that, when it can to being called 'old', his wife did not care who the person was, child or not, offensive or not.

The girls recovered, and again approached the woman, undeterred.

"Ma'am!" The older Elric began.

"Please accept us as your apprentices!" the younger finished.

"Hey! Pinako interjected, walking up to Edwina and Alphonsa. "Why the sudden interest, girls?"

"We know a bit of alchemy," Alphonsa told Izumi, ignoring Pinako, and trying to pull the 'big puppy eyes', thinking her often-noted-as-cute-or-sweet-appearance would help persuade the woman.

"We want to learn more, and you looked pretty skilled," Edwina added.

Izumi seemed seeming to consider the girls, giving them hope – hope which she dashed only an instant later.

"No way!" the black-haired female responded, turning away.

"Why?" the girls cried in unison.

"I don't accept apprentices, and I'm returning to Dublith soon.

"Bring up back with you!" the older blonde cried. The girls leapt at the woman, Alphonsa wrapping her arms around one of her legs and using the 'puppy-dog' eyes once again, and Edwina grabbing her arm. The older alchemist immediately tried to shake both of them off.

"Hey, let go!"

"Plea-ea-ea-se accept us!" the girls said once again.

Izumi managed to shake them off, making them land on their bottoms. She jabbed a finger at them as they stood up. "Why do you two want to learn alchemy so much?"

"Ah..." the younger said nervously and fiddled her fingers.

"Because we want to make life better for people," the older girl quickly lied.

_Nee-san is so much better under pressure..._ Alphonsa thought to herself. _Maybe if Mrs. Curtis accepts us, I could get better at that..._

The woman thought for a good while before asking, "Do your parents approve?

Both sisters looked at the floor, their expression sad (or, in Edwina's case, sad and hidden anger).

"Mrs. Curtis." Pinako stepped forward again. "I'm these girls guardian. Their father disappeared when they were very young and their mother died not long after."

"Oh..." Izumi said. Maybe it was her own loss which now gave the woman the overwhelming desire to accept the children's pleas. She glanced at the girls and their determined expressions cemented her decision.

With a sigh, she said, "I guess I have no choice."

"Yes!" Edwina cheered with a grin.

"Yay!" Alphonsa cheered with a huge smile as she jumped up and down, causing her bunches to wave up and down.

"However," the alchemist said, stopping the children's celebration. She crouched down at the sisters' level and placed a hand on one of their shoulders. "I need to give you one month trial. Then I'll decide whether to take you on or not." The sisters exchanged a concerned glance. "You girls have to show me that I can teach you alchemy, as well as your skills out with it. Your intelligence too."

"And if we can't make it?" the older blonde asked.

"You'll come back here immediately!"

"And if we make it?" the young blonde asked.

"Then I will officially train both of you. Got that?" Izumi added.

Behind Pinako, Winter, who had been asking and listening to just what had taken place at the river, only now noticed his best friends and grandmother talking with Izumi. He moved close to hear, curious.

"Aunty," Edwina said, and both Elrics turned, to her with a smile. "We _won't_ be back in a month.

"I _knew _you were going to say that," Pinako replied, unimpressed.

"Wha?" Winter piped up. "What's going on? Where are you guys going?"

"If you weren't listening, we're not going to tell you," Edwina replied bluntly.

Alphonsa placed one hand behind her back and tapped the bridge of her nose with the other, her smile now one of a secret-holder. "Sorry, it's a secret for you. Right, Aunty?"

Pinako looked between the girls and her grandson. "If they don't want to tell you, they're entitled to."

"Aw, man!" Winter exclaimed in frustration.

* * *

One day later, having all packed, Izumi, Sid, Edwina and Alphonsa were on a train in Rizenbul Station. The sun shone on a lovely morning. The Rockbells of course, had come to see them off. The sisters waved until the train took them out of their sight. They did not know that Winter was partially pretending, his attention mostly focusing on how he could get his friends to tell him what they were going to train in.

"Off we go!" Alphonsa chirped as the locomotive picked up chugging speed. "Off to training!"

"Training!" Edwina joined.

"Shut up!" Izumi snapped. The girls of course did not.

"I bet Mrs. Curtis has a laboratory!" Edwina said excitedly.

"And lots of book we haven't seen!" Alphonsa added.

"I said shut up!" Izumi repeated. "And I don't have any of that. I'm a housewife!"

The girls finally became quiet as evening fell, having fallen asleep. Izumi sighed, glad for finally having some peace, even finding the image of the children sleeping to be endearing.

"I thought you said you never wanted apprentices," Sid commented, now feeling he could with the two sisters asleep.

"…Even at this age, I'm still touched by these children," the woman replied, taking off her jacket. "Their eyes were so serious when they begged me to teach them alchemy." She gently draped the jacket over the girls. "Their determination to learn was so strong. A teacher is just what they need to guide them on the correct path, right?"

"I suppose so," Sid replied. "We're going to have to prepare beds for the kids. Home's sure gonna get noisy."

"They don't really need to sleep on beds. Not right away anyway. They need to pass their test first."

"Oh," Sid said.

Izumi suddenly gave a laugh that indicated she knew something her husband did not. "To train them…I am going to need to make a call at the station!"

Once they had reached the station in Dublith around the midday of the following day, they woke up the Elrics and took them outside. They instantly wilted into the heat.

"It's so hot…" the older blonde began.

"In the south," the younger finished in a whine. "I wish I could take a bath…"

"Me too," Edwina agreed.

"Ok, let's!" Izumi told them, having returned from her phone call. "I'll take you girls to my house and get you washed up.

"Really?" Edwina asked.

"That's great!" Alphonsa cheered.

After they had cleaned up, Izumi decided to take the girls on a 'special' boat ride.

"This is Lake Kauroy," the alchemist explained as she led the sisters to the dock next to the pristine water.

"Wow!" the older blonde said, her eyes wide. The two ran over to the water's edge, put down their suitcases, and removed their socks and shoes before cooling their feet in the water.

"It's huge!" Alphonsa observed her eyes as wide.

"Oh, you're here, Izumi!" Mason said, looking up at his employer's wife as he sat next to a rowboat. "I've got the boat ready."

"Sorry for all the trouble." She turned to the sisters. "Edwina! Alphonsa! We're taking you for a boat ride on the lake! Come on!"

"Sensei Izumi is so nice," Alphonsa said as they walked back out of the water and tried to shake their feet dry. It did not work. They just walked in their bare feet, their shoes and socks in one hand and their cases in the other. As Mason rowed four of them across the water, Sid, who had remained on the dock, began to feel pity for the girls, as he now caught on to what his wife was planning. However, he kept up appearances, took the children's luggage to look after, and waved the others off. The children themselves were still completely oblivious, now moving their hands in the water, looking for fish.

"Why didn't your husband come, Master Izumi?" Edwina asked upon realising the man was not present.

"It's because it isn't easy for him to get into the boat," Izumi explained. "And don't call me 'master'. Until I'm your sensei, you can call me 'Izumi' or 'Mrs. Curtis'."

"Won't he be upset to miss the tour, Mrs. Curtis?" Alphonsa asked, going for the more polite address, as was expected of her.

"'Tour'?" The dark-haired female repeated.

"Yeah," Alphonsa replied. "Where's the boat going anyway?"

Izumi again gave that knowing smile. "To the middle of the lake. Look." She pointed. The girl's eyes widened in awe they saw the silhouette of an island in the very centre of the lake. "It's York Island." The boat docked and Izumi led the girls onto the shore.

"Wah…" the older Elric marvelled at the forest and sand covered isle.

"A wild kingdom…" the younger commented.

"Here, take this," Izumi said, and tossed a sheathed knife to Edwina.

"A knife? What for?" the girl asked, unsheathing the weapon a little to look at it.

"This is a no man's island," Izumi began, ignoring her. "There's no electricity, no gas, no wells and no houses. There are wild beasts here too." The now-confused girls wondered why she was telling them this. It certainly did not sound like something that should be on a tour. Then Izumi delivered the line the shocked the girls. "You have to stay alive on this island…for a month!" the most unnerved part of this was that the woman was smiling the whole way through. The girls were frozen in shock. "Ah, and you're not allowed to use alchemy within this period of time."

The sisters found their voices. "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?"

The dark-haired alchemist walked back to the boat before waving and saying, "I'll pick up you girls in a month."

"Hey, wait!" Edwina tried to say, but was cut off.

"All is One, One is All," Izumi told them as Mason began to row the boat away.

"Huh?" the girl said in confusion.

"If you can't find that answer to that in a month, I'll send you girls home. Bye!"

"I can't believe someone would be allowed to do this…" Alphonsa said. "It's cruel! There should be some kind of organization to prevent things like this!"

"Well, I guess we're just going to have to deal with it," Edwina replied.

"I know," Alphonsa responded. "I'm just surprised."

"Well, at the very least, let's get somewhere to sleep," Edwina said.

Going inland, the blondes made their way through the forest (jumping at almost every noise as they did so) until they found a clearing. They then took large leaves and placed them on the ground in a primitive, bed-like pile. By the time they had finished and lay down, it was dark, the moon being the only thing producing light. After a while just lying there, looking up at the sky, a load groaning noise filled the quiet air – the older blonde's stomach.

"I'm hungry…" she groaned.

"I want to sleep on a feather mattress," Alphonsa moaned.

The older alchemist's mind drifted to Izumi's 'One is All, All is One' riddle. She clenched her teeth in frustration and anger. "That woman, how could she give up such a difficult riddle?"

"I've got no idea what it could mean…" Alphonsa said after taking a minute to rack her brain. "If we can't find the answering a month, it means we fail our training." Suddenly, Edwina jumped to her feet, giving the younger female a fright.

"_This can't be training for alchemy! That evil old hag!_" Edwina exclaimed with her hands clenched in fists.

"Nee-san…" Alphonsa said in a hissing tone. "Go to sleep!"

The older alchemist jumped at the sharpness of the tone, instantly silent. It was not the first time Alphonsa had spoken in such a way, and her sister had begun to think that she was one of those girls who were sweet most of the time, but could turn tough when the situation called for it.

"We'll explore and think in the morning," Alphonsa told her as she lay down next to her.

"Ok," Edwina replied.

A strange, scratching and breathing noise awoke Edwina early the next morning. She sat up, rubbing her eyes.

"Al? Are you going to the bathroom…?" she asked groggily.

But Alphonsa was asleep on her side next to her. She turned her head around and her eyes widened in fear. Standing before her was a _thing_. It was definitely not some wolf or fox. In fact a wolf or a fox seemed a good alternative. Its body was humanoid, but its head had a bear-like snout, round, blank eyes and sharp, grinning teeth. Strange for a monster, it wore a black trousers a veil-like cloth falling from the back of its head to its shoulders. Its bare chest also showed it was male. Finally, most intimidating of all, it held a wooden club in one hand.

For a moment, Edwina was frozen, then the creature raised its club. With a yelp, the ponytailed girl grabbed her still-sleeping sister by the collar and dragged her away, narrowing avoiding the club, which thudded onto the ground.

"Wha…wha…_what?_" the older blonde cried.

"Go to the bathroom yourself…" Alphonsa murmured.

"Wake up!" Edwina screamed.

The younger blonde opened her eyes, and was instantly fully aware upon seeing the creature. "What is that?"

The two yelped and leapt backwards as the monster brought his club down again. The found themselves in-between a large tree and the monster, which bore down upon them, casting them in shadow.

"This is _my_ island!" the monster growled. "I kill all intruders!"

* * *

There was one thing the Elrics did not know about their time on York Island, and Izumi paused the retelling until she had explained it.

Back at her home that very morning after sending them to the island, Izumi's mind drifted to the Elric sisters. She was helping her husband chop meat, as Mason was unable to come into work for a while (of course, everyone knew why now).

"I wonder if those kids are alright…" she thought aloud as she prepared a side of beef. "People say that knowledge acquired from experience teaches one the most. Training the mind _and_ body is the best method for a good foundation in alchemy." She raised the carving knife and spun it into her hand. "If they don't learn anything from this, then it means they only have so much talent. _I'll properly just reject them as apprentices._ _The older kid is SO desperate. She'll properly pass a test of this level. _Here, I'm done cutting." Sid, who had been quietly listening the whole time, jumped as the woman threw the blade at him, but skilful caught it between two fingers nonetheless. He wondered why he had not become used to how quietly his wife's moods could sometimes change.

"I'm more worried about their _lives_," he told her.

Izumi walked over to him and continued. "At the time I was being trained, I was left in Mount Blix for a month." Inside her head, she saw her eighteen-year-old self, a hunting knife gripped in one hand and an icy blizzard blowing around her as she faced a rearing bear. "And even then, it turned out to be for the wrong man. Still, if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have learned the meaning behind 'One is All, All is One'. And I think I trained myself pretty well,"

"Don't compare yourself to normal people," Sid reminded her.

"Compared to that, their training is easy," the dark-haired woman still went on, raining a hand.

"Still, they're too young…"

"Don't worry! They won't die! They won't freeze to death, and there's plenty of food. Plus, there's no creatures or monsters that could kill them."

* * *

The Elric sisters had just avoided another blow from the monster's club by jumping in opposite directions with another cry of fear. The monster turned on Alphonsa, grabbed her by one of her bunches and threw her against a tree, causing her to yelp in pain as she slid onto the ground, stunned.

"Hey!" Edwina, and stuck a fighting pose. "_No-one hurts my little sister!_" Doing a flip, she kicked out, aiming for the creature's face.

"Ow, that hurt!" the monster said in a clearly sarcastic tone after it was struck. Before Edwina could take away her foot, the creature grabbed it and use it to fling her onto the ground. She barely had time to get up before the club was swinging towards her again.

_He's not going to give up until we really are dead!_ She franticly thought as she backed away. _Why do monsters always have a taste for kids, especially when—_

She was cut off as the ground disappeared beneath her and she landed painfully on her head.

"Ow!" the older Elric cried, momentarily disorientated. Once she had shaken the stars from in front of her eyes, she realised she had fallen into a small crater.

_Painful or not, it saved me from another blow…_ she thought to herself. She heard a noise behind her and realised the creature was trying to sneak an attack on her. She leapt out of the crater and began running as the club slammed down again. Maybe, she could find a place to hide, after she had found Alphonsa of course.

"Al!" Edwina called out as she ran. "Where are you? Please be ok!" She continued running, but there was no sign of the younger girl.

Suddenly, a hand reached out from the darkness in-between the trees and grabbed her. She was about to yell "Please don't eat me!" and struggle when a voice said, "Nee-san, it's me! Sh!"

"Al? Are you alright?" the older alchemist said upon seeing her. She looked fine.

"I said 'sh!'" the younger snapped.

They both heard the monster this time. They clamped their hands over each other's mouths, worried the other would give them away as they sat behind a large tree. For what felt like an hour (but in reality was only about twenty minutes) the monster search for them, and girls had to move from hiding space to hiding space. Eventually, the island creature gave up for the day, deciding to look for his prey another day. When the girls realised it was gone, they returned to the camp for a short rest before beginning exploration of the island. Edwina brought the knife for protection. Judging from the position of the sun, it was almost midday.

"I thought Sensei Izumi said there were no monsters here," Alphonsa commented as they walked.

"She lied," Edwina replied. "You were right. She really is cruel, and there should be an organisation against this. That's why we have to get through this, and figure out that riddle. I've made up my mind. What about you?"

"Let's do this!" the younger Elric said with an air of determination and resolve.

"We won't accomplish anything if we're hungry. Let's see what we can get."

After climbing up a small cliff, Edwina spotted a tree with a vine around it and formulated a food-catching idea.

"We could use this to make a trap," she said. "Help me tie this in a loop."

"A lasso trap?" Alphonsa asked as she assisted.

"I don't know the real name for it, but yeah, it's that kind of one."

Alphonsa completed the loop, and Edwina tossed it over the tree branch and onto the ground. She then took the other end of the vine and the duo hid in the nearby bushes. After a long wait, an unknowing rabbit hopped into the vine loop and Edwina yanked it, snagging the creature's hind leg and raising it into the air.

"Yay!" Alphonsa cheered as she picked up the caught rabbit.

"Yeah!" Edwina joined added in joy. She took the rabbit and tied its legs together and placed it on the ground.

"We're going to have to kill it," Edwina said, her tone no longer happy.

"Yeah, I hate this bit," Alphonsa said. "You're supposed to make it quick, so it doesn't suffer, so do it."

Edwina stood over it with the knife in both hands and Alphonsa by her side. But she could not bring herself to bring the blade down. The girls made the mistake of looking at the animal's face, something one should never do when trying to kill it. She looked at its eyes; it's scared, almost begging eyes. The older girl's eyes moved to its shaking body. She could not do it.

"Uh, here Al, you do it!" she said, pressing the knife into her sister's hands.

"No way!" the pig-tailed girl snapped. "You're older, you do it!"

"But I've never killed an animal before!" Edwina snapped.

"Neither have I!" Alphonsa yelled back.

"You're always making me do annoying jobs!"

"No I don't!"

The argument was cut short by a sharp crunch. The children looked back at the trap. A fox stood there, the now-dead rabbit in its jaws. It sprung away.

"Heeey! Wait! That's ours!" the girls cried in unison and persuaded the animal.

They were determined to retrieve their rabbit, until they saw the foxes den.

"It has babies," Alphonsa said. "We can't take food from a mother, can we?"

Edwina had a mental image of someone snatching their mother's food basket, despite her telling them she had children to feed.

"No, it wouldn't be fair," Edwina concluded. "Well, since we can't kill them, let's see if we can catch some fish instead of bunny-meat."

They made some simple fishing rods from sticks made from tree branches and strings made from vines. They then returned to the beach they had been first placed and tossed the vines into the lake, with worms tied on as bait. A few hours later, as the sky began to darken, with not even a single bite, an agitated and hungry Edwina's mind returned to thinking about meat.

"Can foxes be edible…?" she wondered aloud.

"Calm down," Alphonsa said and placed a hand on the older alchemist's shoulder. "We'll get a bite, I know it. Fishing just takes time, remember?"

"At least the other times we hadn't gone almost a day and half without eating."

"It takes three weeks to starve!" the younger girl replied in sharp annoyance.

"I know, but still…"

Suddenly, there was a sharp tuck on the older Elric's line. "A bite!"

Alphonsa joined her in yanking the catch out of the water.

The two cheered once again.

"Finally!" Edwina cried.

The two rushed back to their camp, collecting twits along the way. Once they returned, with their determination they managed to start a fire. Edwina used the hunting knife to gut the fish and cleaned it out. Alphonsa used another twig to skewer it and stand it up in the flames. The sisters smiled as the smell of smoked fish filled the air, it alone lessening their hunger.

However, their joy was once again short-lived. This time, it was because of a loud crash behind them. The girls whirled around. The island's resident monster was back. Again the girls had to jump out of the way of another powerful club-swing.

They looked back as they ran to a safe distance – to see the monster grab the stick-pierced fish in-between its toes, and opened his mouth wide. The creature slowly raised the fish to its mouth, deliberating teasing the girls.

"NOOO!" Edwina yelped, and again stuck a fighting pose. But instead of charged in again without any she began to looked

Alphonsa, on the other hand, decided to fight club with club. With all her (not so heavy) weight and yanking, she managed to rip off a short branch. She then charged at the monster (Edwina was still thinking), and repeated smacked the monster's chest. It did little damage, but did succeed in making the monster drop the fish.

"Go, Al!" Edwina happily goaded as she watched. She had to admit to herself that she liked it when her sister when from sweet little girl to tough little girl. It was once of the reasons she sparred with her. However, Edwina again charged in without thinking when the creature made its next move.

The monster responded to the pigtailed girl's onslaught by chopping the club in half and kicking her in the stomach, winding her and sending her backwards a few yards onto the ground. She lay there, trying to get air back into her lungs.

"_What did I tell you about hurting my little sister?_" Edwina cried. As she rushed forward, she aimed another kick, this time at the monster's groin. But this time, she was not even able to land the blow. The monster reached out and clamped a hand around her neck and raised her into the air.

"_This is MY island!_" the monster roared right into her face. "_GET OUT!_"

For a moment the ponytailed girl was unnerved but then she felt that surge of bravery she always tapped into in such situations.

"If we leave this island…" she hissed, and grabbed the creature's wrists to stop herself being strangled. "_We fail our training!_"

The monster responded by slamming her onto the ground and tightening its grasp.

_Crap…Crap! Crap!_ Edwina thought, screwing her eyes shut. _I'm going to die…_

Suddenly, everything stopped. Edwina lay there for a moment before opening her eyes and sitting up. The monster was leaving.

"Huh?" she said in confusion.

"Next time…" the monster growled without looking back.

After they both recovered, the girls stripped down and cleaned themselves off in the lake water.

"That monster is a real bastard!" Edwina suddenly piped up.

"Yeah!" Alphonsa agreed as she poured water over her hair. "But I won't give up!"

"That's the spirit! It's only twenty-eight more days!" Edwina replied. "But we're going to need to a plan."

And so over the next ten or so days, the determined sisters set about a daily routine. They constructed a lean-to on the first night and every morning checked it for damage and repaired it necessary. They constructed a primitive bucket out of wood, and after checking the lean-to, they used bring water to the camp while they caught their breakfast fish and quickly ate it raw. They then would fill the next few hours with exploration of the island. At about midday, they would catch more fish for lunch, re-light the fire, cook and eat the fish, giving enough time to let it settle, as it was round about this time the monster made its first twice-daily attack. Once they had done their best to fend it off, they returned to exploration. They then caught their final batch of fish, re-lit the fire, again cooked and ate, and again fended off the monster afterwards. As the moon rose high in the sky, they would retire to the lean to and try to figure out the meaning behind the 'All is One, One is All' riddle.

On day eight, they found and tried tree sap, hoping for something to flavour the plain fish, but it was a big, bitter-tasting mistake. They hoped to find berries, but did not.

However, as the days went on, the same food every day and the lack of progress with the riddle began to wear them down.

On day thirteen, as they lay under a bright moon, bruised from their latest encounter with the monster, and with fish bones and ash scattered they began to think to question their motivation.

"Hey, what did we come here for again?" Edwina asked in a miserable tone.

"I don't know…" Alphonsa replied, equally as gloomy.

Suddenly, the heavens opened and the girls retreated to the flimsy lean-to. Even just looking at the rain caused the girls to feel

"I wonder…if we died out here…what would happen?" Edwina asked. She noticed Alphonsa was making her way outside, on her hands and knees heading towards a mouse nibbling on a discarded fish. She slammed her hand down, but the whippy animal dodged and fled.

"I don't want us to die," Alphonsa replied. "If we did, Winry and Auntie would be sad." The girl clenched her hands in fists, and, in an echo of her sister, shouted. "All of this…_What does it have to do with alchemy?"_

"I can't this anymore!" Edwina shouted. "I want to go home!"

The next day, the girls did not even have the motivation to fight the monster. After only ten minutes, Edwina was laying on the ground, badly bruised. Alphonsa was equality as bruised, and was being held up by the back of her shirt.

"Fight!" the monster growled, standing over the older Elric and shaking the younger in his grasp. "If you can't fight, then get out!"

Edwina found a surge of energy. Letting out a scream, she stood up and pulled out the knife from its sheath under her t-shirt. She pointed it at the monster, her face full of anger and determination. The monster made a surprising response. It dropped Alphonsa and slowly left. Edwina's energy fizzled out and she slumped onto the ground.

A few hours later, the blondes managed to recover enough strength to find and eat a merger portion of food. Immediately after which, they collapsed onto their leafy bed. The next morning, Edwina was woken by a scuttling noise. She moved her head to the side, and jumped slightly. Right next to her, an army of ants was pulling apart and devouring a moth. However, this horrific fact of nature became the least of her worried when she began to hear a familiar scratching and breathing sound. She rolled into her stomach and looked up. The monster stood over her once again. She did not try to move away this time, from a combination of lack of strength and lack of caring.

"Stand up!" the creature demanded.

"Shut up!" Edwina snapped back.

"Fight me," the monster demanded.

"If you want to kill us then do it," Edwina replied, then glanced at her sister who was asleep on her side again. "Just make it quick."

The creature tilled his head to the side like a curious dog. "You want to die?"

"I don't _want_ to die…it just seems like a better opinion at the moment, since we're starving and can't go home."

The monster turned away and walked away. To Edwina's surprise, instead of leaving as usual, it walked towards the fire and lit it. Edwina followed him with his gaze. The monster placed two objects into the ground above the flames. The girl raised her head, but was unable to see past the monster's large back. The greatest surprise came fifteen or so minutes later. Upon seeing it, Edwina shook her sister with a cry of "Al! Wake up!"

"Wha…?" the bunches-wearing girl began, but stopped and tensed when she saw the monster. "Nee-san! It's back— huh?"

The monster was holding out two fish-on-sticks. The girls were understandably suspicious, and simply looked at the fish.

"It's not poisoned or anything," the monster said, senses the girl's emotions. "You've got my word."

A few more minutes of silent scrutiny passed before Edwina exclaimed, "Oh screw it!", snatched the fish and handed one to her sister. They ripped into the fish fierce and wolfed down large chunks. The creature sat back to watch them. After they had finished, the monster left without swinging a single blow. The girls remaining on alert for about half an hour more, in case the creature was using the food as a way to lower their guard. It did not return. Figuring this, the girls spend another morning exploring before heading to the lake water to wash, being carefully to clean their wounds and bruises so they did not becoming infected.

"You know, I just thought of something," Alphonsa said suddenly. "If we did die, Winter and Aunty Pinako certainly be sad, but only them, and maybe the village too, judging by mum's funeral. But that's the thing. Only they would be sad. To general society, us dying wouldn't affect them at all…life would continue from them as if nothing happened."

"What's your point?" the older blonde asked curiously, washing her arms.

"We're so small and insignificant."

"DON'T SAY SMALL!" Edwina screamed, missing the point due to that certain word.

"I meant in the metaphorical sense!" Alphonsa quickly replied before the older female could get violent.

"Oh, right, sorry. Well, if such…_small_…existences like such died…" she spotted a fish lazily swimming by her and grabbed a sharp stick which was floating in the water a few metres away. "We would leave behind only our bodies. Water, carbon, ammonia, lime, phosphorus, nitrogen…" She again stopped, and stabbed at the fish. She missed the first time, but tried several times. She broke in a shout as she did so. "_Sulphur! Fluorine! Iron! Magnesium! Aluminium! Silicon_!" she felt the stick finally pierce the fish."_That's right! Our bodies are composed of those and a hundred or so other compounds!_" She raised her prize into the air in joy and showed Alphonsa, showed her find in return. The younger Elric had been searching the trees for edible berries or fruit, but had found some mushrooms instead. After having checked them for poison by appearance and smell, and when she certain they were safe, she had gathered some into her arms. "It's eventually going to be broken down by bacteria and become nutrients for plants." With most of her attention on talking, Edwina almost picked a poisonous mushroom, but was stopped by Alphonsa. "Those plants will be eaten by vegetarian animals." The girls started to make their way back to camp, happy for some variety in their island meals. "Meat eating animals will eat those animals in turn. "It's going to be calculated to places we don't even know. I think there's a name for this…"

"The food chain," Alphonsa said. "And I think we humans are at the top of it, too."

"We would be."

Over the next few days, the girls returned to their routine, their hope renewed. On day twenty-two, they even captured another rabbit (though Edwina felt the need to apologise before she was able to bring herself to kill it). They spit-roasted it, the best way to cook one, they were told one day by Pinako. As they ate it, the fox club they had seen a few days ago approached daringly. Alphonsa, spotting them, came to the conclusion their mother was not having luck finding them food. She tossed them the rabbit haunch she about to eat (she could spare one), and the two girls chuckled as the two fought over it. However, they had forgotten one crucial thing – the island monster. At this moment, right when they were completely disabled, it attacked, thinking its plan had worked. It attacked by slamming its club down, but Edwina managed to backflip out of the way. She quickly stuffed what remained of her rabbit's leg into her mouth. This seemed to annoy the creature more, and it kicked out at Alphonsa, but she also evaded him with a jump. Seeing this, Edwina aimed a kick of her own at the creature's groin, but it jumped out of the way, swung around, and kicked the skewered rabbit meat out of her hand.

"Not again!" Edwina shouted.

"I got it!" the younger Elric cried, and tracked the meat with her hands outstretched, as it flew in a large arc. She jumped up, her hands going to close around the food – when a blur of orange and white fur snatched it away. Alphonsa landed painfully on her stomach as the mother fox flitted away.

"I already fed your babies!" she exclaimed in sadness.

After a hopeless chase, which included the monster, the girls returned to the came and the creature to the forest. They lay down, head-to-head and stared up at the sky. The stars were out this night.

"A flow of life…too large to be seen by eyes…" Alphonsa said, dreamily as they looked up.

"I'm not sure whether that refers to the world or the universe…" Edwina responded. She felt a sensation on her hand, and moved her head to the side to see an ant was crawling on it. "Al, you and I are both small parts of the flow of life. This ant too. The entire universe is formed from all of the parts coming together. We are living according to countless universal 'rules'. Destroying and rebuilding objects according to these rules is what we call alchemy."

"'All is One, One is All'…I get it now! We get it now!" Alphonsa responded joyfully. "We'll be able to train with Sensei Izumi!"

* * *

Day thirty had finally come. It was over. Izumi had travelled over to the lake with a new rower (Mason was unavailable). The Elrics stood in front of her, Edwina gripping the knife, while the woman had her arms folded.

"Tell me what 'All is One, One is All' means," Izumi asked bluntly.

"'All' is the world!" the younger Elric began, equality blunt.

"'One' is me," the older sister finished. "We are all connected in an endless cycle of life and death."

There was a moment of anticipation. Then Izumi give a titter, which grow into a full-grown laugh.

The girls looked at each other with understandable confusion.

After a few more laughs, Izumi looked back down at the baffled children. A small smile was on her face even though her arms were still folded. "Very well. You are now officially my apprentices. We'll begin training in a few days."

"ALRIGHT!" the girls cried in unison, and raised and clasped their hands in the air. They danced around in a circle of joy.

"Get onto the boat. Warm food and beds will be prepared for you," Izumi told them, pointing behind her with her thump.

"Oh, Nee-san, living is so wonderful!" Alphonsa exclaimed and the sisters changed their dance to an embrace. They were so happy they could almost cry. After a good, long hug, they jumped into the boat and set off. However, as they made their way across the lake, the monster appeared. It jumped onto the boat.

"No!" Alphonsa cried.

"What do you want this time!" Edwina demanded. "We're leaving! That's what you wanted, right?"

"Yo, good work," Izumi congratulated the creature.

"…What?" the blondes questioned in unison.

"He's the employee at our store."

"Eh?" the girls queried further.

The monster laughed – and removed its head. The dark-haired man beneath laughed.

"What? It was just a costume?" Edwina cried.

Fury rose within the children. However, before they could act violently on it, the man, seemingly obvious, placed the mask down on the boat and grabbed one of the Elric's hands in each of his own and shook them vigorously.

"I'm Mason! Pleased to meet you both. Well, properly anyway," He happily greeted, his speaking fast. How was my acting? Was it good? I think it was."

The girls remained in shocked silence.

Mason went on. "I found it hard to fight you guys, since you're children. On the other hand, I found it hard to control myself when I had to go easy on you. But, boy, was it scary when you both almost died. Lucky I had those fish, eh?"

"He was there to make sure you two didn't die," Izumi explained.

Alphonsa turned around and grabbed the woman's collar. "_Then why did you have him attack us?_"

"Fool. That way you could learn more in a month!" the teacher replied, easily prying the pigtailed girl off her. "To train your mind and spirit you have to start with training the body. You got to train physically, spiritually, mentally, and perhaps emotionally all in just one month. Wasn't it worst it?" the older Elric sighed. Izumi again gave that small smile. "Remember, I'm going to teach you like a proper teacher now. Be prepared for some disciplines."

"Heh! Piece of cake!" Edwina cried in that determined, brave tone. "We overcame death on that island! _There's nothing we're scared of!_"

Izumi knocked the older blonde into the water. "Don't be cocky. And speak to your teacher with respect."

It was but a small part of the intense training the Elrics Sisters had to go through.

* * *

**Author's Note: Just like the first two chapter this was another long one (though the long ones are more an average chapter length in most books). Flashback chapters always seem to be the longest.**  
**Sorry it took so long to finish…again. I bet you are getting really pissed at that, are you not, readers?**

**Again, there will be mistakes as I just wanted to get this uploaded before some of you started questioning me.**

**Did you get the "organisation against children being marooned on an island" reference? If you do write a review, then would you mind saying what you think it is if you do?**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter, anyway, dear readers.**

**Thank you ^_^.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

_**The Taboo**_

Edwina finished off the important events of her and Alphonsa's childhood at Izumi's home, with Sid having returned from work.

It was from 1908 to 1910, the Elric Sisters trained with Izumi. Edwina could only describe it as "The training from hell!". The alchemy teacher, on the other hand, smiled as she too remembered. She did not see how she was 'brutal' at all. She always gave her only students a hearty breakfast before the morning 'combat lesion'. She always patched them up afterwards. She only shouted and punished when transmutations went wrong for an easily-avoidable reason, or if they 'forgot' their manners. She gave them enough time to sleep before giving the (very loud) wake-up-action. That was not cruel…

The sisters' most distinctive memory was during a particular lesson about three months in. As they did the morning sparring, Izumi was simultaneously fending off and delivering blows, teaching, and reading a book called 'Easy Cooking'.

"The formation of alchemy's power is the Circle," Izumi recited to the Elrics as she swiftly blocked a jumping kick from Edwina and a punch from Alphonsa. The girls give a cry of frustration.

Izumi continued speaking regardless. "The Circle shows the nature of the power. And you may activate the power by writing alchemy formulae there." The women blocked a punch from each of the girls in quick succession and swung her own one, knocking Edwina off-balance, causing her to hop for a few moments. Alphonsa just managed to dodge by throwing herself to the side. "By understanding the flow of power and the laws of nature…" She blocked a low kick from Alphonsa. "You can apply it to anything." The girls took a few moments to recover. "In other words…" Alphonsa give a cry of "Yah!" and leapt in to the air, ready to kick, but Izumi calmly tossed the book aside and grabbed her by her legs.

"Wha?" the pigtailed girl squeaked as she was swung through the air, while the older girl's eyes widened as she could only look on.

"Assess your opponent's flow of power, and use it against them," Izumi still continued, and flung Alphonsa, onto the ground.

"Ow!" the girl moaned, sitting up to rub the back of her head, where she was sure a lump would develop.

The woman laughed. "It's better if you experience it first-hand." Her eyes shrivelled around to the older blonde. She gulped, but never got the chance to run. Izumi grabbed her and hurled her across the garden, with her screaming the whole way.

Roughly fifteen minutes later, Izumi began the usual placing of plasters over small wounds and cleaning bruises. She also fixed their messy pigtails and ponytail receptively.

"One who accepts and understands the flow of power, and constructs using that knowledge…they are an alchemist." Izumi finished the sentence and her First Aid of Edwina with a steadying plaster over Edwina's broken nose (it was the first thing she had landed on). Like Alphonsa before her, the teacher patted her head comfortingly. Also like her sister, Edwina smiled slightly, both reminded of their mother's proud patting of heads and stroking of hair.

"The world is basically functioning according to this flow, life and death is part of this too. _That's why you should never, ever try to revive a human being_." At the last sentence, the dark-haired woman's voice took a turn from firm to stern. The sisters nodded nervously.

Izumi stood up from the meat crate she was sitting on, closing and picking up the first aid box and the 'Easy Cooking' book as she did so.

"It's almost lunch time," she told her students. "What should we have…we'll need something high in calories and carbs…we're going to have an extra combat session today."

"Good…" the sisters said in unison. Then they realised what Izumi had fully said. "_What?! Extra combat?!_"

"NO TALKING BACK!" Izumi whirled around and roared at them while jabbing a finger. "Go review while I prepare lunch."

"Y-yes, Sensei!"

"But, Sensei, I do have one question," Alphonsa said, taking a step forward and fidgeting with the hem of her t-shirt (Izumi always had her wear shorts of trousers while fighting, and she now did not mind). "You transmute just by clapping your hands, while we have to draw the Circles. Why is that?" Edwina nodded behind the younger girl, being just as curious.

Alphonsa clapped her hands together in a mimic of their teacher. "From what you taught us, I can see that your hands act as the circle…but where is the alchemy formula?"

"_I'm_ acting as the formula," the dark-haired women replied as they began to walk across the garden.

The older blonde also clapped her hands together. "I don't get it."

"How _do_ you do that?" the pigtailed girl further questioned.

Izumi took a moment to reply. "You can only do it when you can 'true knowledge'."

The girl had no time to think of those words until they returned home in 1910. Of course, even then, they had to first go through avoiding questions from Pinako, Winter and the other curious children who had noticed their absence. Winter, the girls remembered, was the most determined. For almost a month they returned, after realising demanding or begging would not work, he had tried to charm his way into his friend's secrets. Using advice from the 'bigger kids' (the teenagers), he tried flowers, homemade cakes and pies, carrying their things, all manner of techniques. The sisters did not say a word, but they could not help but enjoy the special treatment.

In the present, Izumi smiled proudly at her students keeping their training secret.

Finally, once Winter had given up, and they had cleaned the dust from the house and washed up; they proceeded to their father's study to revise. It was than they returned to Izumi's words.

"What do you think Sensei meant by true knowledge, Nee-san?" Alphonsa asked as she looked up from her book.

Edwina clapped her hands together for the third time. "Hmm…" She placed her hands against the wall, and nothing happened. "I can't do it!" she flopped onto the floor hopelessly and waved her fists as she cried, "If Sensei would just tell us about 'true knowledge' we'd be done!"

Alphonsa chuckled. "I want to know too, but of course Sensei isn't going to just _tell_ us it. She probably wants us to earn that knowledge ourselves, thought research, revision and whatnot."

Edwina paused in her tantrum. "Earning it, eh? That could take ages!" She sat up. "Alright! Let's try working on the Human Transmutation theory then."

In the present, the alchemy teacher could feel her pride fading, being replaced by boiling blood. She did not want her thoughts to be confirmed.

Edwina had to take a deep breath before continuing, and telling the woman about the most horrifically life-changing mistake the sister had made, that most forbidden taboo – the Human Transmutation. She spoke in a solemn, sombre voice as she reiterated the terrible events – the transmutation going wrong, Alphonsa losing her entire body, Edwina losing her leg after meeting Truth and seeing true knowledge, then losing her arm to bind Alphonsa soul to that suit of armour. Izumi began to feel pity as well as anger as she went on. The older Elric finished the sister's tale with just how she had become a 'Dog of the Military'.

After all was said and done, there was at least a full five minutes of silent contemplation. The only sound was the irregular dripping of a tap into a wooden basin in the sink.

At last, Izumi raised her hand and placed it over her face. "Along three-hundred avenue…" She pulled her hand away and slammed it into her other one as a fist. "THERE'S A COFFIN STORE, SO GO GET ONES THAT'LL FIT YOUR SIZES!"

The teenagers hugged each other with a yelp of fear.

Izumi sighed and became calm once more. "Enough jokes."

The girls slowly broke apart.

"After I told you repeatedly to not do Human Transmutation…"

"Both the mast the apprentices…oh boy…" Sid interjected.

The Elrics gasped.

"Sensei…you too?" a bewildered Edwina asked.

Izumi ran a hand over her chest and stomach. "That's why I was so determined to drum it into you two not to do it. My organs…most parts of them were taken. That's why I cough up blood. You guys sure are big idiots."

"We're sorry…" the students said together.

The teacher stood and folded her arms, a sure warning when she was getting serious. "You're morons!"

"We're sorry," the teenagers repeated.

"Ignorant!"

"We know."

"Stupid apprentices!"

"You're right."

Izumi unfolded her arms. "Still…it must have painful. It certainly was for me."

"Well…I guess we were asking for it…it was not really painful - not that losing a leg isn't excruciating - but more…" the older Elric looked at the younger for confirmation.

"Yeah…I don't really remember much, but it was more…horrifying," the armour girl concluded.

"Yeah. Horrifying. Especially when I saw that…_thing_…that was supposed to be Mum."

"You idiots." The Elrics were very surprised when the dark-haired woman placed a hand on each of the sisters' shoulders and drew them into a loving and pitying embrace.

After a moment of surprise at the sudden tender act, the girls wrapped their arms around the teacher's back. Edwina closed her eyes as well.

"We're very sorry…so sorry…" the Elrics repeated.

_I'm beginning to sound like that woman Sciezka…_ the older thought.

A little later, Izumi took the girls outside onto the grassy hill again, wishing to talk to them in private.

"Becoming a State Alchemist at just twelve…it's what we'd call a genius," Izumi told Edwina.

"No," she replied. "That's not true! I'm not a genius at all! If I was, I wouldn't have performed the taboo, or persuaded Al to join."

"That was _my_ choice, Nee-san," the armour quickly cut across.

The blonde continued. "It was only because I saw that thing that I got the licence."

"No. You're a genius for being able to survive after seeing that," the dark-haired alchemist corrected. "I must admit, as stupid as you two are for attempting it, surviving it is impressive. And binding Alphonsa's almost-lost soul to that armour – a wonderful display of sisterly love. But we still have to settle things." The women paused, and stood in a military-like, commanding stance again folded her arms. "_You guys are expelled!_"

The sisters were dumbstruck.

"_I didn't teach you alchemy so you could turn your bodies into these! I no longer consider you my apprentices._" Izumi explained in that harsh tone before turning around and beginning the short journey home. "My husband is going to escort you to the train station, and make sure you don't try anything else. Just go straight home."

The teenagers stared at the ground, the shame of what they had done returning twofold.

"T-thank you for everything…" Edwina could muster in a voice barely louder than a whisper.

The older alchemist paused to show her acknowledgement of the statement before continuing on.

Sid came to the hill ten or so minutes later with Edwina's coat and suitcase gripped in his large hand. As dusk had now fallen, the streets of Dublith were quiet and near-empty, save for shop-keepers and employees shut up, and late shoppers returning home.

"Mr. Sid, why did Sensei attempt Human Transmutation?" Alphonsa asked quietly and nervously as the trio walked over a brick bridge.

The man took a moment to reply. "I knew one of you was going to ask that at some point. When she was pregnant with our first child, she became sick. It was only when she gave birth that we found out that, due to her sickness…the baby was stillborn."

"T-that's awful!" Alphonsa cried. "Losing a mother like us is bad, but your child? That's worse. I'm so sorry."

"Loss of any loved one is equality as bad as another," Sid told her. "Honey felt so guilty. She apologised for almost the entire night afterwards, but it wasn't like she'd done anything wrong. She couldn't bear to attend the funeral a few days later. She probably began about Human Transmutation around then. And as you know, it was because of that that she ended up the way she is now." Just like the Elric sisters, Sid remembered the scene as clear as always. He remembered running down to the basement after hearing a scream, seeing his beloved wife lying in a pool of her own blood on the Transmutation Circle, and wondering what on earth had happened. "I'm such a fool. I never noticed what she was thinking. She also waited until I was asleep the night she tried it."

For the rest of the journey to the station, there was only silence.

"Well, have a nice trip, girls," Sid told them as they stood on the platform. "Come over and see us if you're pass by again."

"Huh?" the confused Fullmetal Alchemist said. "Didn't Sensei tell you? She expelled us."

The tall man sighed. "You don't get it do you? Even though you're relationship is no longer master and apprentices, that doesn't mean you can't visit and talk like normal people. You just can't mention alchemy. Besides, what's stopping you? Hm?"

At this, an idea hit the older Elric like a brick.

"Al!" she cried in that determined, commanding voice. "Why did we come to Dublith?"

"We came to—" Alphonsa began, and then realised the blonde's plan. "Ah!" The two took off at a run. "Sorry about this, Mr. Sid, but we're going back!"

Also realising their plan, Sid smiled slightly behind their backs. "Try not to get yourself killed!"

"We'll try!"

Back at the house, Izumi was preparing suffer. Her head flew up as the door was slammed open.

"_Sensei!_" Edwina exclaimed, moments before she screamed and ducked. Izumi had thrown her knife at her head. Luckily, it embedded in the wall.

"_Why the hell are you showing your faces again?!_" Izumi hollered. "_And who's this 'sensei'?! You're not my apprentices anymore! Didn't you hear me?!_"

"C-c-calm down!" Edwina cried, waving her hands in front of her.

The two girls stood side-by-side, and in sync, dropped down onto their knees, their hands placed on them.

"_We came here to look for clues on how to return to our original forms!_" Alphonsa began, in her own determined voice.

"_We won't leave empty-handed!_" the Fullmetal alchemist finished.

"_Go home!_" Izumi repeated.

"_We won't!_" the sisters protested.

"_I'll chop you up into tiny pieces!_"

"_Then we can't go even if we wanted to!_"

"_Just go!_"

"_No way!_"

As the dark-haired woman noticed the Elrics expressions, and could not help but see the determined faces of those two little girls from years ago. _Damn, they have the same eyes._ She sighed. "You're still idiots, but you sure are determined and stubborn. Let's get down to it."

The sisters smiled for a moment as they stood up. "Yes!"

"First of all, Alphonsa, did you see True Knowledge as well?" Izumi asked the younger Elric.

"Um…" she said, rubbing her helmet as she thought. "I don't think I did."

The teacher rubbed her chin. "Hmm…it could be that you did, but suffered memory loss as a result of the shock. It wouldn't be surprising…ok! First thing we need to do is recover Alphonsa's memory!"

"Wait, since that things needs a Passage Fee that would mean, that because Al gave more…she's closer to true knowledge than I am!"

"So, if I get memory back might be able to tell us how to recover our bodies. And not only that, I could finally perform alchemy without a Transmutation Circle!"

"That actually makes sense too," Izumi said. "You don't remember what you saw, so you can have the only benefit among all those negatives. But…that memory…"

"Yeah…" Edwina said knowingly.

"Is something wrong…?" the confused armour girl asked.

"Not wrong, more…scary," Izumi replied, waving her hands.

"'Scary'? Why?"

The woman and older girl leaned in.

"You could go insane," Izumi hissed.

"Maybe fall into a catatonic state," Edwina added.

"Well…" Alphonsa clenched her hands in fists. "I'm willing to take that risk, so long as the possibly of memory regain remains!"

"Alright then, let's find a way to return your memory," Izumi said, making her way back to the chopping board. "But first, since you're both not leaving until you find a solution, I suppose you could join Sid and I for dinner. Come, you'll help me." The girls were confused. Izumi gave a smile.

"Thank you, Sensei!" the sisters said.

"No 'Sensei'!" the women snapped.

"Sorry!"

* * *

That same evening, in East City HQ, Colonel Mustang was playing another game of chess with Commanding General Grumman, her sixty-something superior, in his office. They often had these games, and just as often, they spoke of topics regarding the Military while playing.

"I should have told you this sooner," Grumman began after a long silence of thought. He moved his Bishop to take the Colonel's first Knight. "You'll be working in Central starting next week."

"I see," Mustang replied, folding her arms as she thought of her next move.

"It'll be lovely," Grumman continued as Mustang moved her Rook forward five spaces, putting the General's King in Check. "You've been an interesting woman to have around."

"Well, not as interesting as your stories from when you were young," Mustang quickly responded, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Ho ho ho," the man laughed, causing his grey moustache to bounce. "When I was a young officer it was so—" He noticed the danger his King was in and adjusted his circular glasses. "Ah! Oh dear!"

The black-haired woman laughed. "Gotcha there, General!"

"Hmm…not quite." He moved a humble, unnoticed Pawn to take Mustang's Bishop, placing it in front of the King. "Thanks to your hard work, you made my job easier."

"I was able to learn quite a lot from the work you gave me here." Mustang moved her other Knight to take the Pawn, checking first that it could not be taken.

Grumman became a little nervous, moving his hand back and forth as he saw there was no way to get the opposing Knight or Rook away from his King. Nevertheless, he continued the conversation. "I heard Brigadier General Halcrow will be replacing you. I don't like him, he's too stern." He moved his other Rook forward six spaces, seeing he could at least take the opposing Rook that only had to the potential to be threat. "You, on that other hand, can be both laid back and cunning, calculating and intelligent. No stern air about you…well expect when you're angry."

Mustang smiled and picked up the Knight. "Then I wish you luck." She placed the Knight down again. "Check Mate."

"Aaaah!" Grumman cried again, and looked around hopelessly for a solution but seeing none. "I…I finally lost!"

"And I finally beat you!" the Colonel said with a laugh.

The General sighed, and also give a laugh. He actually felt happy that his subordinate had bested him at last. He pulled out a little black book from his trouser pocket and flicked to a page. "That makes it…ninety-seven wins to me, fifteen draws and now one win!" He jotted it down when the accompanying pen. "This is a special match."

"Thank you," Mustang said with a smile as she carefully brushed the pieces off the board, flipped it over and began placing the pieces into the hollow storage space. Once they both had packed up the pieces and snapped the board shut, the Colonel made to leave.

"Oh, Mustang, just one more thing!" Grumman called from his desk as the women placed her hand on the doorknob. She turned back.

"I just remembered, since you are still hoping to become the first female Fuhrer, would you consider asking my grandson to be the first…oh, what should it be called…First Gentleman? First Husband? First _Man_?"

"Don't think too much General," Mustang said with a sly smile, deliberately avoiding the question. "Though, speaking of special, I was wondering if I could take some special subordinates with me to Central. Maybe your grandson will be among them." She only added the last sentence as a tease, knowing full well she would take that particular man with her.

"Of course you can!" the old soldier happily replied. "Can't have you being amongst near-strangers without support."

"Thank you, sir."

"And, for another familiar thing," the General went on, and walked toward the women before holding out the chess set. "I want you to have this."

The Colonel was surprised by the gesture, but took it with thanks all the same before leaving for her office.

Near her office some other soldiers were crammed into one room, passing the time with their own game of chess, a rather different kind than the normal. Breda was taking on a Major.

"Check Mate!" he declared.

"Ah!" the Major cried.

Breda laughed. "Fifteen straight wins!"

Some of the observing men either cheered or booed.

"Ha, not as think as you look, Breda," a dark-skinned Sergeant commented.

"Heh, heh, you _do _have to use this," the Second Lieutenant replied, tapping his head.

At that moment Falman entered the room.

"What a commotion," he mumbled upon seeing the rowdy lot. He then noticed the chess board and his forever-near-closed eyes lit up. "What a rarity!"

"You know about 'Joug'?" Breda asked, turning in his chair. "It's the kinda chess played by Eastern countries?"

"Of course I know!" the older officer replied before launching into another of his encyclopaedic explanations. "Joug – a type of board game. To win, one must move to surround the opponent's king using all twenty of the pieces on the board. The origin of the game is—"

"Yeah, yeah, next!" Breda cut across him with a wave of his hand.

"Oh yeah, I did come to tell you something!"

"What…? And if you start going on again…"

"The Colonel wants you and me to come to her office, right now."

"You and me? Well, I guess can't ignore orders."

Meanwhile outside, on one side of the building, Sergeant Major Fuery was performing one of his usual duties - fixing a busted phone line. He was known for his skills with communication devices, and was often the first to be called when a radio or phone cable needed looked at.

"There we go…" he muttered to himself as he re-attached the last two wires and closed the electrics box. "That should do it." He stepped aside to allow the other officer to dial the number again. After a few moments, they both heard a click.

"Hey, it connected!" the soldier said happily. "You really know your stuff, Sergeant Major. Thanks."

"You're welcome," Fuery replied, before turning and starting to head back to the building. It was only now he noticed how hot it was. He removed his jacket and undid the top button of his shirt as he walked. A car saddening pulled up along aside him.

"You're Sergeant Major Fuery, right?" the bearded Lieutenant within asked.

"Yeah," the respected man replied.

"I've been told to tell you that your superior, Colonel Mustang, wants you in her office right now." The Lieutenant drove away.

"I wonder what the Colonel wants…" Fuery thought to himself as he went to follow the orders. "I hope it isn't bad."

Out in the city the search for Scar's non-existent corpse was still going on.

Havoc grunted as he heaved another sand bag over of the way. "We're been going at this for weeks…someone must have found something…"

"Afraid not," another soldier replied, hearing his tired mutter. "Just leave the work to us and take a break."

"Yeah, you're working more than us combined," another man interjected.

"Really?" Havoc replied, taking a puff from his cigarette. "I feel kinda bad now. I guess I could take a short br—"

"Second Lieutenant, sir!" the bespectacled communications officer called from the tent as he held the telephone. "Colonel Mustang wants to see you."

Havoc's face fell. _Just as I wanted to rest…is she physic or something?_

Hawkeye was at the shooting range, his military jacket discarded beside him. He was putting another bullet into his favourite rifle when another soldier approached him.

"Oh, you're doing well, Hawkeye," he told him when he observed the bullet holes in the human-shaped target. "Your aim's as good as always."

"Not good enough," the blonde male replied, cocking the gun. He shot the latest bullet, which hit the target dead centre in the chest.

"Well, sorry to interrupter your training, but the Colonel wants to see you."

"I see." He smiled to himself as the other man walked away. "It's time."

Ten minutes later, all the summoned men stood in the Colonel's office.

"I have brought you all here for a special reason." Mustang began. "So…Sergeant Major Fuery!"

"Yes!" the replied.

"Warrant Officer Vato Fulmen!"

"Yes!"

"Second Lieutenant Heymans Breda!"

"Yes!"

"Second Lieutenant Jean Havoc!"

"Yeah…"

"First Lieutenant Rizo Hawkeye!"

As well as replying 'yes', the Lieutenant gave a small bow.

The dark-haired women stood with her hands on the desk. "All five of you will come to me to Central. I want no complaints."

"Yes, Ma'am!" all five said in unison. Only after this did Havoc step forward. While he was happy that he would no longer have to spend all day searching for Scar's corpse, he did have another concern.

"Wait, Colonel. I know you don't want complaints, but…" He began nervously.

"What is it?" the female officer asked sternly, straightening up and folding her arms.

"You see, the thing is…" the man rubbed the back of his head. "I got a girlfriend recently and well…"

"Leave her," Mustang told him bluntly. "Get a new one in Central."

"What?" Havoc cried.

"Ma'am, that's rather callus," Hawkeye spoke up. "What if it was you and a lover?"

"I'd still leave him. And you are to leave her, Havoc. That's an order."

Havoc was devastated. All the men tried to comfort him, knowing full-well he was a man on the hunt for love. Hawkeye again tried to give a comforting patting on the shoulder.

_If you're rather heartless when it comes to someone else's love…I wonder how you will react if I were to— No! I won't think like that! I know you are not that kind of person!_ He thought to himself. _But one day I will tell you…I know I will…even if the law says I can't…_

Mustang turned away from them all to look out the window, her hands moving to her hips. "It's a good thing you just started dating that woman recently, Havoc. It won't be that much of a loss, since the relationship wouldn't be serious just yet. I should know." Mustang finished with a laugh.

Hawkeye ignored it.

* * *

The next day, back in Dublith, The Elrics sisters had taken their search for something to regain Alphonsa's memory to the streets. They had spent the last two hours in the library and it was now late afternoon.

"Man, it's late already," the Fullmetal Alchemist said as the two of them walked out of the building. They had found nothing but a few dead ends, even in the library.

"You always lose track when you read," Alphonsa said. "You're the only one not to notice."

"Oh. Anyway, if we don't get back soon, Sensei will yell at us!" the blonde turned down an alleyway. "Let's take the shortcut."

The alleyways of Amestris were often home to the criminal and poor, and Dublith had a good few of both.

The Elrics passed a dirty man sitting next to a bin where his cat perched, a bottle of half-drunk wine in one hand. They passed by two other man seeming to be in the middle of some kind of exchange. They passed by a sad-eyed woman gripping a very small sack of money in one hand and a in the other, obviously for protecting what little cens she had. As they approached the end of the alleyway, a sickly male voice called out. "Miss! Miss!"

The girls turned around to see a small, bald, ugly man with long fingernails approach them. As he came closer, they could see odd splotches of skin discoloration on his body. He was dressed in nothing but a ragged cloak with the hood drawn up. He held out a chipped bowl as he spoke again.

"Would a lady such as yourself be able to spare a cen or two?" he asked, addressing Edwina. "What about you, armoured one? If you have the money to buy that you must have some you can give to a poor man."

The girls did feel pity for him, but they did not want to give him anything. Something about him was making them feel rather disturbed. Something familiar. They wanted to get away from him.

"Sorry, we don't have any money to spare," Edwina said bluntly. "Get a job and earn some, you creep."

"Come on!" the man begged, his voice becoming as disturbing as his presence. "A State Alchemist like you must be loaded."

The girls were now walked quickly towards the exit.

"I don't know what you're talking about," the blonde snapped to the man as he trotted behind them. What she really wanted to say was "How do you know I'm a State Alchemist?" as her watch was hidden in her pocket."

"Now, now, don't act dumb," the bigger replied with a smile and laugh. "Your sister's quite famous in our world. She'd fit right in. You transmuted her soul, right?"

That made the girls stop. Again Edwina wanted to ask how he knew this, but instead she again tried to show the man away. "You're annoying and wrong. Just leave us alone. We're just two sisters here to visit a friend, nothing more."

"But the armoured fella has no body, right?" the cloaked male probed.

The older Elric could not stand it any longer. Turning around to the man, she took a running start, and kicked him hard in the face with her left leg. He fell backwards, blood spurting from his nose as he crashed into some bins. Edwina turned back around. "Let's go, Al."

But the confrontation was not over. The male sit up and shook bits of rubbish off him as he held his nose. "You broke my nose!"

The girls continued to walk.

"Hey!" the man cried, standing up. "Don't act like what I know is wrong!"

"_Shut up and go away!_" Edwina screamed, grabbing one of the bins and throwing it at the male, again knocking him off his feet.

The man just rubbed the now growing lump on his head and laughed again. "Getting so worked over this…I bet that means that armoured fella isn't even human, huh?"

"Stop talk—" the Older Elric was cut off by the armour teenager placing a hand onto on her shoulder and moving her aside. The man's eyes began wide as saucers as the girl's large shadow fell across him.

"Mister…" she began, effortlessly lifting the man into the air by the back of his cloak using only one hand. "_Please stop. If you don't I will take action_."

"Sorry about that…" the man replied, sounding genuine. "I was just…" He gave up the act. Alphonsa gave a squeak of surprise and let go when a long, reptilian tail slid out of the beggar's cloak and whacked off her helmet.

"Haha, there's no mistake!" the man laughed as fell through the air, seeing inside the metal shell. "The State Alchemist thinks I'm a creep, but _you're_ the one with the transmuted soul. Hahahaaa!" He landed lizard-like on the ground. The girls both now recognised that familiar feeling. It was the same one they had felt when they had each realised the identities of Shou Tucker's 'talking chimeras'.

"You bastard!" Edwina cried as Alphonsa searched for her helmet.

The blonde aimed a punch at the man's chest, but he jumped out of the way, avoiding a kick as well. He landed a few metres away with another laugh. "I'm done with you two. Goodbye!" He began to run.

"I won't let you get away!" the Fullmetal Alchemist declared, clapped her hands to together. With the ground as its source material, a wall sprung up at the alleyway exit, blocking the beggar off. It was a good thing the streets were beginning to empty, as anyone who saw the commotion happening would surely have questioned it.

"That's amazing," the male chimera marvelled as he came to a halt in front of the wall. "But…" he placed his hands on the wall. "So am I". Edwina cried "Damn?" as the man used the gecko pads on his hands and feet to stick to and climb over the wall. "Goodbye!" the man said one final time as his tail disappeared with a swish on the other side of the wall.

"There are chimeras here?" Alphonsa asked as she walked up to her bewildered sister, having located her helmet and was now reattaching it. "Strange. I didn't think normal could tell just by looking, but he's not normal, so that must be why he knew. But…if he tells anyone about my secret, then I swear I will make him pay..."

"If I even _see_ him again, I'm going to kill him," Edwina hissed.

"Well, how about we forget about this for now and head back to Sensei's?"

"I suppose…"

Edwina demutualised the wall and the two returned to the journey back the Curtis house, going over the events of the last fifteen or so minutes in their head.

Half an hour later, the lizard-chimera arrived in another alleyway, went down a flight of stairs and entered "The Devil's Nest," a bar for the misfits and criminals of Dublith. It was filled with its usual costumers. He immediately reported to his boss, who sat with his two favourite concubines. He was a tall, slim, muscular man, with a strong jaw and spikey black hair that was pulled back slightly. He outfit suited his 'chief of the misfits' job. He wore a black, form-fitting sleeveless top with a black sleeveless, white fur-trimmed jacket and leather trousers into which the top was tucked. It was completed with tough black boots, small, round sunglasses, and leather bands wrapped around each wrist.

After hearing the lizard-chimera's news, his relaxed smile broke into a grin.

"Good job Bido!" he congratulated. "You're awesome!"

Bido laughed.

"Sure saved us a lot of trouble, coming to Dublith on her own," the boss said, turning to three more of his subordinates, a slim woman with tomboy-short, blonde hair called Martel; a very tall, muscular, man dressed in rumpled military attire with pony-tailed, pointed and messy hair called Roa; and an average height man called Dolcetto with even more pulled back spikey hair.

"What should we do?" Roa asked.

"Bring her over here quickly," the boss replied, stroking the hair of the dark-haired woman on his left. "You can use force if she resists – but! – she's an important guest, so don't kill her, no matter what."

* * *

**Author's Note:**** I wish I could multi-task like Izumi. But with ADHD, it is hard, as we are so easily distracted XD.**

**In regards to posting, I think I got this up in good time considering my usual busywork.**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter, anyway, dear readers.**

**Thank you ^_^.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

_**Armour-in-Distress**_

The Elrics had the Curtis house to themselves that morning, as Izumi attending a hospital appointment. They decided to take a break from searching for the younger teenager's memory.

After finishing his examination, the doctor turned to his chart and picked up his pen. "I'll proscribe you the usual medicine. You are looking rather healthy, though. It seems you're getting plenty of rest."

Izumi give a guilty laugh as she buttoned up her shirt. "Actually, no. There's been two familiar additions to the family lately and things have been pretty restless."

"Ah. Well, in that case, just make sure you get some rest after things have settled down."

"I'll try." As she was picking up her jacket, Izumi remembered that question. "Oh, Doctor, do you know any treatments for memory loss?"

"Hm…" the medical professional thought for a moment. "I'm afraid I don't have expertise in that area."

"Oh. It's just that a friend, one of my new additions, lost an important proportion of her memory."

The doctor turned around. "It is usually suggested to use hypnosis to recover one's memory. Or you could just give them a sudden shock."

"A sudden shock…" Izumi mussed. "I guess I'll try giving her a good smack when I get home."

"Ah…alright," the concerned man replied.

When she arrived home, she saw that Edwina was borrowing her exercise equipment. Normally she would be angry about a guest touching something without her permission, but since she training her body just like her mind, she was not that infuriated.

The Fullmetal Alchemist suddenly let out a cry, pausing in lifting the weight. Izumi and Alphonsa whirled around. Naturally, the whack on the head had not worked, even with a bat.

"What's wrong, Nee-san?" the armour girl asked worriedly. "Did you sprain your back? Pull a muscle? Break a bone?"

"I completely forget this year's assessment!" Edwina exclaimed, beginning to sweat much more than she had in exercise.

"Oh no!" the armour girl cried. "You could get put down a rank for that!"

"Assessment?" Izumi asked.

"The yearly assessment for all State Alchemists," the blonde quickly explained. "If it's not done properly, they'll take away my title." Edwina rubbed her chin. "It's all because I've been so busy these days…crap…"

"Excellent," the dark-haired teacher said, moving over to the telephone. "You can take this as an opportunity to quit being a Dog of the Military." She started dialling a number. "I'll tell them for you."

"_Stop!_" Edwina shouted, throwing herself over to the phone and yanking out the connection wire. Izumi scowled.

"I have to go to the headquarters in person."

She ran to the bathroom to shower, flinging off her damp tank top and shorts and yanking her hair out of its ponytail as she did so. After cleaning up she quickly dressed in her usual clothes, her glove held in her mouth as she hurriedly packed in papers.

"What will you do about the report?" Alphonsa asked as her sister rushed around.

"I'll make up some crap on the train!" Edwina replied as she pulled on her jacket before fixing her hair. Throwing her red coat over one arm and grabbing her suitcase, she run to the door.

"Take care of yourselves," Edwina told the teacher and younger teenager. "I'll be back in two to three days."

"Good luck," the armour girl wished.

"Yeah," Izumi agreed.

Edwina left with a slam of the door. The two heard her footsteps quickly fade.

"Does she always rush around like that now?" the teacher asked.

"Unfortunately," Alphonsa replied. "Knowing her, I think it'd be best if someone went with her, so I'll go!" Alphonsa made to leave but did not get very far. Izumi grabbed the turf of hair from her helmet in her strong grip.

"No, no," the woman replied. "You'll stay right here. I need a sparring partner."

The armour girl gulped.

* * *

In the Ishvalan slums, Scar was making a steady recovery. Much as he hated having to stop his hunt, he had to admit the boy and his mother's advice to rest had been beneficial, but that did not mean he would listen to everything they told him.

The boy poked his head through the tent entrance another bowl of water and another clean cloth.

"Hey, you're doing it again!" he cried frustratingly when he saw that stone dumbbell in in Scar's right hand. "Your wounds haven't completely healed! You can't be doing that nonsense already!"

"Ishvalan warriors are constantly training themselves—"

"Whatever! Just wipe your face." The child threw the cloth at the man, did as he was told. "You have a guest."

Someone else appeared at the entrance. Once Scar saw him, he gave a slight jolt.

"Master?!" he exclaimed.

The man gestured for him to follow, and his student followed him to one of the larger, better quality tents, where he currently resided. The two sat cross-legged, facing each other, while the boy and his grandfather sit by a few feet away, listening. Almost all residents ofthe slum were also listening from the entrance. I were most Ishvalans, the two were surprised at the black handlebar moustache Scar's master processed. Was he truly an Ishvalan, with his non-white hair, they wondered.

"I'm glad you are unharmed, Master," Scar told his superior. "I thought for sure that you were dead."

"I'm glad to see you survived well, too," the older Ishvalan replied.

"Where have you been?"

"I was with the refugees in the southern mountain area. Some monks did escape to the eastern desert, but I am not sure if survived or not. It's difficult." He paused to take a sip of the tea before him. "The military's activities have been increasing in the South. When I came to the East, hoping to avoid trouble, I heard about you. It seems you have been going around killing State Alchemists."

Scar tensed. What was his master going to do? Scold him? Physically and painfully punish him?

"It is true that State Alchemists are responsible for burning down our villages and killing our people," the dark-haired Ishvalan went on. "I understand your hunger for vengeance. But what you are doing is a little like scapegoating." The man's eyebrows lowered, showing his anger. "Vengeance grows in others new vengeance. You must break the cycle as soon as possible. _You have to endure it_."

The meeting was suddenly interrupted by several surprised cries from outside. Two burly men entered the tent.

"Pardon our intrusion," the one with a blonde Mohawk said insincerely, before pointing a finger at Scar. "You're the Ishvalan with the x-shaped scar, right?"

The man nodded, knowing just from their appearance and clothing who these men were.

The two men grinned.

"'A seriously injured bounty is immobile here'. That's what we were told by a nice, helpful fella," the blonde one said.

"This is gonna make us rich!" his sunglasses-clad partner added.

"What?" a man from the resident crowd cried. "There's no sell outs in this camp!"

"Unless it was…" a woman began.

Everyone turned to look when they heard the rustling of clothes behind a broken wall. From behind it, nervously popped up a foreign-looking man, appearing to be in his forties, with pale skin, small, thin eyes, who had black hair receding from his forehead, a black tuft in the middle of his head and a thin, black, pointed moustache.

"Thanks for the info, Mr. Yoki," one of the bounty hunters said/

The crowd gathered around the former Lieutenant and owner of Youswell instantly.

"Yoki, you traitor!" one of the men cried, shaking a fist.

"We accepted you like family because you had nowhere else to go!" a women angrily shouted. "Is this how you repay us? By betraying us?!"

"Shut up, you losers!" Yoki replied in a heartless, uncaring manner. "I'm not like any of you! With my share of this bounty, I'll rise to the top again!" he gave a cheering. Several of the women and men found themselves struggling to not attack the man.

"You two!" He cried, pointing at the bounty hunters. "Get him!"

But the men never got a change to move. Scar walked out of the tent by himself.

"No, mister!" the boy cried.

"It'd be troublesome if I stayed here," Scar said without turning around.

"What a co-operative fella," the sunglasses man said. "You're going to the slammer—"

Scar made his move. The man screamed, not from the pain, but shock, when the Ishvalan grabbed his – and with a flash of red lightning – disintegrated his hand. Blood began to spurt out as the hunter fell to the ground, sunglasses going off as he did so, clutching his arm. His screams had become those of pain. Scar just stood there calmly.

"What…" his partner said, almost in disbelief at what had just happened. "_What did you do?_" He pulled back one arm, ready to punch Scar, but the man was too fast, and grabbed him by his face, ready to perform his patented killing move.

"I'll give you a moment to pray to God," he told the hunter.

"What God? There's no such thing as—"

Just like various others before him, the man's face exploded with blood and Scar dropped him to the ground. The slum residents could only look on in horror. The scarred man looked at the other bounty hunter, who was still on the ground. He gave a small squeak of fear.

"No, please!" he cried, shuffling backwards and hold up his remaining hand. "D-don't kill me! Please! I'm sorry, I swear! I was going on the orders of the pointy moustached guy!"

The slum residents had now going over the shock of the past few minutes, and with bats and fists at the ready, were advancing on Yoki. One man grabbed him by the hood of his cloak and dragged him over to a good, clean spot. Then the beating began.

Scar had approached the other bounty hunter. The man braced himself, thinking there was no point in hiding the sweat and tears pouring from him as he felt his death incoming. Scar picked his fallen sunglasses and turned away. The hunter jumped up and fled as soon he turned his back.

"You're leaving?" Scar's master asked. "Your brother would be sad."

The younger Ishvalan placed the sunglasses on his nose and discarded the blanket he had wrapped around his shoulders. "I can no longer turn back."

* * *

With the sparring thankfully done, the younger Elric was helping with the house chores. She was outside, sweeping, when a piece of paper bounced across in the ground and landed at her foot.

"Hm?" she said curiously, picking it up and opening it. It said, in rather messy writing:

_Hey, it's me, the chimera from yesterday. My name's Bido. Now don't get mad just yet. I just want to talk to you, no violence or insults. We could get to know each other and our secrets, eh? I told my friends about you and they're interested. They're chimeras too. If you want to meet up, my friends will waiting for you at the abandoned factory on the west side, you know, the poor part of town._

"Hmmm," Alphonsa thought to herself, looking around. She had been angered when she read the sender, but was indecisive. "Can I trust him? Mum and Sensei did always said never to go with strangers, especially when alone and I'm alone right now. Not to mention he's not a nice I could learn more about chimeras…hmmm…" She did not see Bido spying on her from a nearby rooftop.

At the old factory, Greed's chimera subordinates sat on the roof.

"Will she come?" Martel asked Roa, who sat leaning on his battle hammer, which was between his legs.

"Dunno," he replied. "But she might bring allies."

About fifteen minutes of waiting later, Dolcetto perked up from his higher vantage point and sniffed the air so much like the dog to which he was infused. "She's coming." He kicked back again. "What a brave girl." The trio saw Alphonsa's large form walking down the alleyway. "She's alone. I guess Greed was wrong about her bringing allies. This should make it easier."

The armour girl had told Izumi that she was going to return to searching for her memories, and wondered if she minded. The teacher did not, but did tell her to be back in no more than two hours. She jumped slightly as Martel, Dolcetto and Roa jumped down from the roof on in front of her and on each side.

"Welcome, guest," Dolcetto greeted, trying to sound friendly.

"You're Bido's friends, right? The ones he told about my secret?" Alphonsa asked. She could not help but feel a little nervous. "He shouldn't have done that."

"Haha, we're sorry on his behalf then," Dolcetto replied. "But he's not good at keeping juicy stuff to himself, and we only keep it between ourselves. No normal person needs to know."

"Well, thanks, I guess," Alphonsa replied. "I have secrets that are so deep not even I know then, and I need to know then for something important."

"Then we'll get down to business," Roa said. "Come with us and we'll help you learn what you need to know."

"But, both my mum and Sensei told me never to go with strangers," Alphonsa told them.

"How old are you?" the dog-chimera asked.

"Fourteen," the armour girl answered nervously, the uneasy feeling refusing to go away. "Why?"

"A fourteen-year-old should be able to think and act on her own, right?" Dolcetto explained. "You're becoming a young woman. And young woman make their own decisions just as much as any young man. I'm sure your mother and Sensei would understand, and see it as you becoming more independent."

"You do have a point…" the armour girl rubbed her chin. "I'll make the decision on my own." She walked around in a slow circle of thought.

After a few minutes, the dog-chimera asked, "Well?" He gave a canine yelp when metal foot smashed him on the back of the head, knocking him painfully to the floor. He lay still and unconscious.

"After thinking about it on my own…" Alphonsa began, still keeping her polite tone as she lowered her foot. "I'm going to be tough…_and force the secret out of you, miss and misters!_"

Roa, who had been loosely holding his hammer, gripped it tight and swung it over his shoulder while Martel pulled out her knife. She was mostly a martial arts fighter, but the knife did help.

"So, it comes down to using force," Roa said. Being fused with an ox, force was something easy for him.

They both lunged at the armour girl – and missed. They turned around just in time to see her smashing through the door as she ran. They gave chase.

"She's fast for a suit of armour even taller than you, Roa!" Martel said. "She's annoying me already!"

"Don't be hasty," the ox-chimera replied. "We have the advantage of territory, remember. She's an outsider. She won't know her way around this building. She'll be easy to capture."

They turned around a corner to a hallway where the armour girl was now fleeing. The two chimeras grinned; it was basically a dead end. Alphonsa realised this too. There was only a glassless window for escape.

_Could I?_ She thought to herself.

The chimeras were surprised when she did.

"I thought you said we had the advantage of territory!" Martel snapped at her partner as they too leapt out of the window. Unlike Alphonsa, they had to take a few moments to recover.

_How nostalgic,_the girl found herself thinking. _Nee-san and I used to play tig sometimes when training._

Martel and Roa were now on the run again, having to turn yet another corner, as they now all ran through the streets.

"That kid's just running around with no intent to attack us," Martel commented.

"A non-living body with a soul is convenient thing," Roa told her.

"What?" she asked.

"Think about it. She doesn't feel exhaustion. I bet she's planning to run us around until we're tired, then she's either make a break for it or finish us off."

"What an impute brat!"

The two turned around to see a recovered Dolcetto overtake then on a pipe, carrying his sheaved sword in his left hand.

"Dolcetto! So you're awake again," Roa commented.

"Shut up!" the younger man snapped, being understandably embarrassed at being beaten by a fourteen-year-old. "Hey Martel! How going are planning on running with our slow ox-man?"

Roa glowered at the comment. However, Martel did speed up, running alongside Dolcetto as he leapt off the pipe.

"Let's find that brat. I'll sniff her out." Dolcetto said. "See ya there, Roa!"

"Yeah," Martel agreed.

Meanwhile, Alphonsa was sitting in an empty alleyway.

_Maybe I should have thought more about where I should have gone…_ she thought to herself. _All the alleyways look the same. What should I do? I could make a drop-hole to trap those guys. _She sighed. _If only I could just transmute like Nee-san._ She heard a loud clattering noise above her and looked up. With a gasp she had to jump to her feet and to the aside when Dolcetto flew over the wall towards her, surrounded by thrown metal barrels. She kicked one of the barrels at the dog-chimera as she threw through the air. He land on the ground and flipped over her head to dodge. As soon as he landed again, he putted out his sword, hooked the sheath onto his belt, and swung the blade using two hands. Alphonsa, realising he was behind her, side-stepped and aimed a kick at his head, hoping for another quick defeat. However, the chimera was prepared this time and dodge with another back-flip, landing on his hands and feet, once again like that the animal to which he was fused.

_Alright, sousing the edge of the blade is useless, _he figured._ That's some tough metal. I wish I could cut him up…dammit, Boss. _He stood and gripped his sword tightly again.

_This guy is determined,_ Alphonsa though as she struck a fighting pose. _I need to be careful, especially with that word making him tough._ She then had an idea.

She reached out and grabbed Dolcetto by the face, causing him to give a muffled cry. Even though she was not keen on killing, ever since the chase began she had begun to think unusual thoughts. Anyone eager to harm a child was not worth a life. The same went for the other chimeras. She wanted so badly to be able to performer the finisher of that terrible Ishvalan.

Perhaps it was because of this inability that Dolcetto, despite not being able to see, managed to lodge his sword under her helmet. He used it to wretch the helmet off.

The younger Elric threw the dog-chimera aside in the distraction, who hit the ground with another yelp. She clamped her hands on her neck. _No, I lost my head again!_

This was when Martel, who had been waiting behind the wall the girl had been sitting against, made her move. She leapt on top of the armour girl.

"Excuse my intrusion," she said before diving into the armour. Being fused with a snake made her very flexible, and she twisted her legs around one another to form a rocket-like shape.

"Ah!" the girl cried. "Get out! Get out!" She began running around in a bit of panic. She only let cats, friends, and people she was rescuing inside her armour. Even if she do not like the way she was, she had come to treat the body as her own.

"Huh, it's extremely comfortable in here," Martel she as she moved in a crouching position. "Guess I didn't need to wrap myself up.

"I can feel you! It's disgusting!" the armour girl cried as she continued to run, trying to think of ways to get the women out.

Martel stretched her arms and legs out to their snake-like length, trying to get them into the full length of the metal and legs arms, trying to control them,

"Be obedient!" she cried as she strained. She managed to extend Alphonsa's left arm straight and immobilise her feet. Martel laughed. "How does it feel to have your body controlled from the inside?"

"It's not like you can completely control my body!" Alphonsa snapped, managing to bend the arm.

The chimera smirked. "Oh, I'm not in here to play a strength contest with you. As long as your movement is slowed a little…"

The armour girl heard a thud behind her and felt someone grab her from behind.

"…This can be settled," Roa finished the sentence.

"Ah!" the amour girl yelped. She tried to twist her arm around to punch him, but he was too fast. He grabbed that armour and used it to toss her over his shoulder before using his weight to pin her to the ground in a classic wrestling move.

"Urgh…" Martel groaned from within the armour.

"You ok?" Roa asked.

"I banded my head on the way down," the woman replied.

"Oh, sorry."

"You're late Roa," commented Dolcetto, who had been observing the struggle while holding Alphonsa's helmet by the long tuft of hair. The otherman ignored him. The dog-chimera looked at the helmet in his hand. "This brat…I want to give her a slap but I know I'll only bust my hand.

"Your name is Alphonsa Elric, right?" Roa asked the girl. She did not reply. "You're coming with us to our boss. He really wants to meet you."

* * *

**Author's Note: Normally, I hate damsels-in-distress, but since Alphonse was captured several times in the manga and both animes, I knew I would have to do the same for his female counterpart. It is made better by the fact that a female(s) will be going to rescue her.  
There are few things in fiction I hate more than a woman being a pathetic damsel-in-distress (or a female character in general) being rescued or protected by a male (not that I have anything against men). Sorry if that sounds sexist, but for me (and many others) it is such an over-used and sexist trope compared to more unique and not-so-sexist male damsel, and even less so is him (or a male character in general) being rescued or protected by a female, and without ridicule of the male at that.**

**This was a rather short chapter. I guess that would be because it is mostly action-based, rather than dialogue, and as you know, when using a source to write a fanfiction, it is the speech that slows me down. I was hoping to get it up sooner, but my computer was being a twat (again).**

**I am also making good process on my third original story's ideas and characters (that is one the I have decided to focus on. I might upload it to FicitonPress, but right now what I have so far is on DA (same username)**

**BTW, I do not seem to be getting any good (as in, insightful, not positive), detailed reviews lately. I wonder if my three or so regulars are too busy. Are you? I understand if you are.**

**I hope you enjoyed it, anyway, dear readers.**

**Thank you ^_^.**


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

_**Beasts of Dublith**_

"You haven't seen her at all?" Izumi asked.

"No," Mason replied as he went to sit at the dinner table. It was approaching half-past six. "I'm a bit worried."

"What's that kid doing?" the woman asked.

Mason turned around. "Maybe…she's been kidnapped!"

There was a moment of silence. Then the alchemist and the two men laughed.

"I know, right?" Mason said.

"Yeah," the alchemist replied.

She must have lost consciousness. It was the only logical explanation. She could not remember anything from being pinned to the ground by Roa and where she was now – sitting cross-legged with her hands bound together in front of her inside the Devil's Nest basement, with another chain around her leg connected to the wall. Martel was still inside her and Dolcetto was sitting a few feet away, on top of a crate.

"I'm sorry about this," Martel told the younger Elric upon noticing she was awake, her arms folded in boredom. Her voice echoed slightly against the metal. "I've been made the guard. I know it feels disgusting having me in here, but you're gonna have to cope with it." She genuinely meant that, now that she had had time to think about the situation.

"I think I've got used to it," Alphonsa replied, feeling both confused and pleased that the woman was speaking to her in a nice matter. "I didn't really notice you until you talked. Don't touch the symbol behind you though. It's a Blood Seal, and it holds my very soul."

The blonde women turned her head and looked at the symbol. "Your body is pretty interesting."

"You aren't an ordinary human either, are you?"

"No. As you could probably guess my body is merged with a snake." She extended an arm beyond human capacity again, now that the armour girl would notice.

"That was a bit of a shock for me, when I first saw you all. I had read about existence of people like you, I just did not think I would ever meet one. I wanted to ask about it, but of course, I had this niggling suspicion. The only other two chimeras I've seen looked far more like their fused animals than humans, the first one especially so. How could it be possible that such a…_human_ chimera exist? And more than one for that matter?"

The woman lowered her head. "I used to be in the Military. I was seriously injured in the battle for the Southern border. I was half dead when they carried me to the labs for experimentation, seeing that I could no longer fight. After a few, rather painful experiments, I was given this body."

"That's so cruel!" the armour girl cried.

"What is?" the confused snake-chimera asked, raising her head again.

"The Military did those kinds of experiments on willing subjects just because they were injured! And you got that body. That's what is cruel!"

"Heh heh. Well, it really was an inhuman experiment. I passed out from the pain and when I woke up I had been fused with a snake."

Dolcetto lit a cigarette with a match and a smirk. "Yeah, the scientists did care about how we felt. Those bastards looked as us like we were rats. There were many 'failed' experiments in the labs, too, shrieking and growing in pain in their cages." Nina's failed case crept into the girl's mind and she tried to get rid of it. "But among them, but we were the successes among them, so we survived. We wanted to live, unlike them." The man looked up as he blew out smoke. "We would've died in these bodies if we were just left there. Didn't matter if we were chimeras or whatever. Who lived won. What a bizarre life, eh?"

"So, mister, you're fused with a dog?"

Martel chuckled again. "Check him when he pisses, he does it with one leg up."

"No I don't, you idiot!" the man retorted in embarrassment, almost throwing aside his cigarette. "Besides, this body is pretty convenient."

"You're pretty positive about it as well," Alphonsa commented.

"Yeah, but it's better than being in a shitty, boring lab."

The door to the basement opened, and in walk, with Roa and another subordinate behind him, the spikey-haired, sunglasses-clad boss of them. His hands wear on his hips as he looked around. Spotting Alphonsa, he asked Roa, "Her?"

"Yes," he answered.

The armour girl yelped as her helmet was once again wrenched from her body.

"Ooh, cool! She really is empty inside!" the boss said as he looked down. "Oh, hiya, Martel. So you did you have to use force. That's unfortunate."

"Yeah," the woman replied, before the man slammed the helmet back into place. "Nice to meet ya, kid! Sorry for the unorthodox invite." He pointed two fingers on his right hand at himself. "The name's Greed. Your name's Alphonsa, right? Let's be friends."

"You have an Ouroboros tattoo!" Alphonsa cried.

"Hm?" Greed looked at the back of his hand. "You know about these?"

"I meet someone in Central with that who was not good, so I'm not about to trust you, not forgetting your gang kidnapped me."

The homunculus crouched in front of her. "You've already met one of us? Who was it? Lust? Or that dimwit Sloth? Oh well. As for that second bit, yeah, I'm a bad person too, but I'll treat people with respect if I feel they deserve it. Anyway…" He leaned in closer to the girl. "How does it feel to have an immortal body with only your soul inside?"

"First tell me how you and your gang know about me," Alphonsa replied. If she had to speak to this man, she was going to keep it as simple and intrusive as possible.

Greed laughed in response. "How do we know?" He raised a finger. "You fought a killer in East City a while ago, right? Well, you were seen by soldiers and civilians, but I guess you were too busy to notice, right?" The younger Elric remember the fight vividly, but indeed she had not thought of that. She felt nervous. "The authorities there gave an order to keep it confidential. But it's not like they can stop gossip. That gossip eventually came to me."

"Right," the girl said. "So is that why you brought me here? To interrogate me? Or do you want something more?"

"To alchemize a person's soul onto another object; doesn't that technically grant immortal life?" Greed's smile turned in his trademark grin, showing his pointed teeth and making him appear far more frightening. "I want that immortal life. After all, I'm very greedy." His sunglasses slid down his nose as he raised his hands and the younger Elric saw his slightly crazed eyes. "I want money! I want women! I want land and fame! _I want everything in this world! _And that includes an immortal life. You can show me how to get that." Alphonsa did not replied, only now mentally glared at the man, and unknown to him, picked up a piece of plaster that she had noticed under her leg and began quietly scraping it on the floor, her bond hands making it slightly difficult. "You'll co-operate with us if you know what's good for you. Because if you refuse, we'll go so far as to dissect you in order to obtain it."

"Hmph," the armour girl replied defiantly. "You guys are indeed bad people. Horrible people in fact." She activated the scraped Transmutation Circle.

"Huh?" Greed questioned when he saw the blue lightning. A stone fist rose from the ground and the younger Elric drove it full-force into the homunculus's stomach knocking him hurling backwards without his shades or any air in his lungs. He smashed into the wall before falling to the floor. The chimeras tensed.

"Ha! You let your guard down!" Alphonsa exclaimed, feeling triumphant. "And I can now easily break these chains with alchemy too."

However, Greed stood up, looking completely unharmed. "I don't like harming girls and women, but…"

The girl's emotions abruptly changed to surprise when he punched the stone fist, knocking the hand off easily. She had no time for questions, as Greed walked over to her and grabbed her by the back of the helmet, and slammed her face into the ground, holding it there, causing Martel to yelp in pain as her head collided with the girl's metal chest. However, the horn on the girl's forehead prevented Greed from fully restraining her.

"Alright, chill, okay?" he asked the younger Elric in a strangely calm voice before realising her. "Oh, and sorry, Martel. Forgot you were in there."

Alphonsa, again with difficulty, moved, moved her hands to get back into a sitting position. Greed laughed and placed his hands back on his hips.

"Gah hah hah! I like girls like you, who don't hesitate. A good aspect to have! Well, most of the time. But this won't work at all." He raised his finger again. "If you want to beat me, you gotta at least do this."

Now in a sitting position, the armour girl jumped when Roa raised and swung the sharp end of his hammer into the homunculus's face so hard that the top half if his head was smashed clean from the jaw. His body feel to the ground, blood pouring from the remaining jaw.

"W-why did you do that?" Alphonsa cried in shock. "I thought you were…"

Despite clearly looking dead, Greed's hand moved, and he again raised his finger as though telling her to wait. "…allies." She watched as the man's face regenerated, seemingly cell-by-cell, eyes, teeth, muscle, skin and all. After only about ten seconds, Greed was once again looking as if nothing had happened to him. He stood up.

"That's one death," he said, rubbing the back and side of his head. He turned to Roa. "Hey! Couldn't you have done it more…elegantly?"

"Ah, sorry," the ox-chimera replied.

"H-how are you being able to do that?!" Alphonsa found her voice again. "You're immortal already! You don't need me."

"No," Greed replied bluntly, crouching down in front of her again. "This body isn't really immoral. You know what a homunculus is, right?"

"An artificially-created human being," the girl answered.

The man pressed his fingers together and grinned once again, reducing his eyes to slits. "I, and the person you met in Central, are such beings. The Ouroboros is the giveaway. I've been living for about two hundred years now. And some of my fellow Homunculi have been living for even longer."

"That's impossible! There's been no successful cases of homunculus! Human Chimera I can now believe in, but not homunculi!"

Greed gave that distinctive laugh again, throwing his head back for the duration. "Gah hah hah! 'No successful cases known to the public' you mean. There are places in this world that the sun never shines on. You people in the world above can't even imagine how we could've done it in the underworld." He paused to gesture to his subordinates. "You just said that you believe in human chimeras because you have seen them even though they are unknown in the above world, but just because you haven't seen or heard of something doesn't mean it doesn't exist. There's no such thing as 'no such thing'. Surely, your very existence proves that, no? You're only a soul inside a suit of armour." The chimeras gathered around their boss. Greed raised one hand. "I've told you me secret. Now tell me yours. Tell me about how your soul was alchemised."

After a few minutes of silence, Martel spoke up. "You should speak. You don't wonna to treated like a lab rat and be taken apart, do you?" She could not admit that in the short time they had known each other; she found she had begun to like the teenager.

"I can't. I don't remember how I got this body," she told her and Greed. "And it was another person who alchemised my soul, to save my life, so I don't know2 anything."

The homunculus smiled. "Right, that person, I'll go ask them. Where are they?"

"It was my Nee-san, but...she's no longer here now."

The male chimeras and the homunculus started. They formed a circle.

"Did I ask something inconsiderate?" Greed asked. "I want to know her secret so bad, but I don't wonna upset her."

"Well, she's only fourteen," Dolcetto said. "Annoying or not, she might be a bit sensitive about this."

They turned back to the girl.

"Well…I don't know what to say about this," Greed began, rubbing the back of his head. "Um…"

Roa had an idea. He reached out, and, in sharp contrast to earlier, gently patted the girl's shoulder. "Cheer up, ok?"

"Sorry about your loss," Martel added from within. _No wonder she's so assertive. She's been having to look out for herself, all alone._

_Huh? They think Nee-san's dead?_ The confused teenager thought. _Hmm…since I can't fight my way out, maybe I can use this to my advantage._

* * *

The Fullmetal alchemist handed the paper over to the receptionist. After looking it over and handing it, she told her, "Right. Just take this to the Technique Assessment Department. Being past the due date unfortunately means the paperwork will be troublesome."

"Urgh…but thanks anyway." the girl replied before picked up her suitcase beginning to walk away, looking around her.

"First time at the Southern HQ," she said to herself as she looked around while heading down a corridor. "I might get lost." She approached a man. "Excuse me, where's the Technique Assessment dep—" Her eyes widened as she recognised the very tall, muscular figure standing guard outside a room.

"Edwina Elric!" Major Armstrong cried with delight. Luckily, this time, he did not try to hug her. "Here to hand in your assignment, are you?" He grabbed her around the arm before she had a chance to reply. "Come! You can't get it done in here." He dragged her into the room. "Your Majesty, we have another arrival!"

Edwina tensed. Sitting in the room was the Führer.

"Oh, well, if it is the Fullmetal Alchemist," the man said upon seeing the girl. He gave his signature laugh. "Good to see you are well."

"Yeah…" the girl replied, confused. She bowed nonetheless.

"I was assigned to escort the Führer for his inspection of the southern headquarters," Armstrong leaned forward and told her. He returned to his position behind the Führer's chair.

"Right…." She replied. _That was such bad timing…_ She shook her head.

Armstrong straightened up and turned back to Bradley. "Miss Elric came here for her assessment."

"They said it'll take a while because it's overdue," Edwina added, not sure why Armstrong was telling the leader of the country this.

"I'll look at it," Bradley told her. "I could get it done much faster."

Edwina handed the paperwork over, now nervous. If she had made a mistake, the Führer could have her striped of her title and discharged in moments.

As he read the paper, Edwina watched the Führer's expression, as his one visible eye moved back and forth. It was hard for her to gage his thoughts, as his mouth remained in a straight line. After he finished reading about five minutes later, he raised a hand, and without looking behind him, said, "Gimme the stamp." The other escort took one from the desk behind him and handed it to Bradley. After readying it, he pressed to the appreciate space. He looked up to the girl. She looked back at him, trying to hide her nerves. "Fullmetal Alchemist…you passed!" He held the paper out for her to take with a smile. "That concludes the assignment. I'll inform your superior of this."

Surprized, the teenager took the paper and bowed. "Thank you…Sir."

"You have some great accomplishments," the Führer told her. "I expect great things from you. Now, I'm just curious, why come to this HQ when it's not your assigned one?"

Edwina raised a hand in defence. "I came because I just visited my alchemy sensei, and she lives in the south, so this was the closest HQ."

"Mm. This sensei of yours, she must be…awesome!"

The alchemist was surprised at the leader of the country using such a colloquial word. "Um…yeah, she is awesome!" _And cruel as well_. She added mentality.

"Perhaps I should recruit this woman as a State Alchemist." Bradley rubbed his chin in thought.

Edwina waved a hand. "I wouldn't, Sir. You'd need to be prepared to lose a lot of the army to face her." With that, Edwina began walking away.

She did not see Bradley and Armstrong exchange confused expressions as the door closed.

* * *

In Izumi's house, after seeing that Alphonsa still had not returned another hour later, the group had truly became worried. Mason returned from his questioning the locals.

"Izumi, Ma'am, someone did see Alphonsa. At about three this afternoon, a women saw 'a tall person in a suit of armour' walk down the alleyway towards the abandoned factory on the west side."

"After that?" the woman asked, tucking her fist under her chin while her husband folded his arms.

Mason tossed a card to her. "Guys from a bar called 'Devil's Nest' came and took her underground."

"Devil's Nest, huh?" Izumi mused as the couple examined the calling card. "I'll go say hi. You two stay here."

Half an hour later, after cleaning herself and putting a nice, form-fitting, shin-length dress to help blend in, she made her way to the bar.

"Who are you? You sniffing around for something?" a man wearing a brightly coloured shirt asked as the woman made her way to the entrance.

"Normal people shouldn't be poking around here," a dark-skinned and muscled man informed her moving forward to stop her walk.

"Oh, good, you guys don't play games," Izumi replied in her serious tone with her hands on her hips.

"Well then, you should hurry up and beat it—" Izumi interrupted him by pushing him aside and approaching a third man wearing camouflage trousers, who leant against the wall right next to the bar entrance.

"I want to speak to the person in charge here," she told him, but before he could reply, the other two guards run at the woman.

"You hold it right there!" the muscled one cried.

"You don't just freaking ignore us!" the smaller one added.

The alchemist sighed. She turned around, and with a swift kick sent the smaller man to the ground. She then dodged a punch from the larger and grabbed his arm. He cried out in pain as she twisted his nearly all the way around to cause him to fall, landing with a thud.

The other guard hesitated before pulling out a flick knife. "You got guts, you hag!"

Izumi's eyes became slits as rage filled her. No one even _implied _she was old. With a roar of anger, she slammed her hand into the wall, causing part of it to from in a great fist, which sent the knife wielder and another attacker, in a cloak and mask, flying. There was a sickening crack as they hit the ground.

"A-a magician?" the now-former knife-wielder gasped as he clutched his broken arm.

"She an alchemist, you idiot!" the dark-skinned man replied, finally managing to get back on his feet. "We're gonna need guns!"

"Yo, Vulch! Bring out the guns!" the shirted male yelled inside.

"What?" Vulch asked, having to duck to avoid banging his head off the entrance. "You guy can't take care of one troublemaker?" he looked at Izumi. "Oh, a woman, eh? I love women!"

Said woman noted his lizard-like face. However, she was not afraid. In her life, she had seen far worse. Nothing could compare to that night.

The dark-skinned guard grinned. "You're for it now, lady! Mr. Vulch is different from the four of us!" Vulch grinned, showing sharp, animalistic teeth, his skin beginning to take on the scaly surface of the lizard-like creature. Still Izumi felt no fear. "He's got crocodile blood running through his veins! He's a beast! You here that? A _beast?_"

There are many freaks like me here," Vulch told the alchemist. She raised her fists. "So, it's not my fault if you get hurt. Just—" the man was cut off by a cry of a pain. As if from no-where, a large fist smashed into the back of his head, knocking him over.

Upon seeing the assailant, Izumi sighed. "Oh, Hubby, I told you to stay home." But she was smiling.

Sid looked furious as he grabbed the crocodile-chimera by his collar and started delivering his powerful punches over and over. "You bastard! Don't flirt with my woman!"

Izumi clasped her hands with delight. "Oooh, don't call me 'your woman' so loudly!"

After Sid had finished and dropped the man onto the ground, the couple turned back to the other men.

"So, who should we ask for answers?" Izumi asked casually.

Two of the guards still refused to give up.

"Don't underestimate us!" The cloaked man, now recovered, told her.

"Attack!" the dark-skinned man yelled.

Only a few minutes later, both lay stunned and beaten. Izumi cracked her knuckles while Sid flexed his muscles.

"Now…" Izumi began once they were done. Grabbing Vulch by his collar, she roared, "Where is the armoured kid! If you don't spit it out…"

"Peh. What are you going to do if I don't—"

Izumi do not mean to do what she did next, but it nonetheless did the job. She vomited blood all over the man's face. Like a child, the man cried, "Ewww! Gross! Aurgh!" as he waved his hands. "I'll spit it out!"

Inside in the bar, another chimera, with a scar running down one side of his head, had had an idea of how to help Alphonsa regain her memories of her sister's transmutation.

Flicking a lighter, he held it in front of her face as he knelt down.

"Ok, now focus on the light," the chimera told her.

The girl did so. Even if she did want to have those memories, they could not, even if it did work. She had to keep pretending.

"Ok, think back," the man said, raising a hand and moving the lighter from side to side. "The day you were ten…the day your soul was alchemised."

Alphonsa pretended to be deep in thought, after a few minutes, she gave a hopeful "oh!".

The chimeras and Greed perked up.

"…It's…" Alphonsa said, trying to keep the hopeful tone. "…gone."

Everyone in the room bar the girl sighed in frustration.

"Sorry..." she said timidly.

Greed rubbed his chin. "So hypnosis can't recall the memory either."

"First time doing it on this kind of person," the chimera replied. "So troublesome…" He raised his hand in suggestion. "Let's just take her apart and let me analyse her. I know a little bit about alchemy."

The armour girl tensed. "Um…if you've decided that's the only choice, then you should get someone at State Alchemist level do it. It's not a pleasant thought, to be tampered with by amateurs."

"Oh, you've got a point," the homunculus said after turning to Alphonsa with a slight grin.

The hypnotist flexed his shoulder and cracked his knuckles as he gave a chuckle before commenting, "This brat's got some guts. I like kids like you. But!" He reached out and grabbed the girl's helmet by its horn and leaned close, his teeth bared and his voice rising. "It pisses me off, that attitude of fearlessness," The girl did not even flinch as the man's hand transformed into a claw. She had let of most of her fears following the failed transmutation. The man brandished his craw right before her face. "I'll break you apart!"

"Calm down," Greed ordered. Roa stepped forward just in case. "It took us a lot of effort to get her here. And I don't particularly feel like taking her apart now."

"There is one thing I'm scared of," Alphonsa began, her voice still calm.

"What?" Martel asked. She had begun to think the girl very brave.

Suddenly vibrations travelled across the floor. All the people present went on alert.

"It's here now, that fear," Alphonsa continued. Someone began to bang on the thick wooden double doors, which were at the end of the small hallway after the steps. All but Greed and Alphonsa jumped they were kicked open, bringing an end to the vibrations. Izumi walked in, haughty and tall, another of the animal-infused beings behind her. All others before her lay motionless in her wake.

"Excuse me," she said calmly as she walked by the first town man, bearing an eyes and bandages around their faces, receptively.

"Oi!" the eye-patch-wearer cried.

They did not know whether to attack or not. No one did. Izumi walked into the centre of the room, and looked straight at Alphonsa.

"_You idiot!_" she roared, and tossed the man she was holding right at the younger Elric. He struck her in the face and flopped onto her lap. The alchemy teacher jabbed a finger at her. "_Why the hell did you get kidnapped?!_"

"Sorry!" Alphonsa cried back as she moved the man off her. "They were too strong, eventually!"

"Hey, don't pretend we're not here!" the eye-patch man cried.

"Yeah! Who the hell are you, anyway?" the hypnotist demanded.

"I'M A HOUSEWIFE!" the woman declared in her loudest voice, jabbing her finger at herself this time.

* * *

**Author's Note: Urgh, I am so sorry for another long delay. So many things have been happening the last few months that I have had no time for writing fanfiction. Don't be angry, please.**

**I decided to make the Elric Sisters, (well, mainly Alphonsa right now, as she is the focus of this and the last chapter) not as shocked or clueless as their originals at the existence of human chimeras. I thought it made more sense, especially since they had read books from their father's study and Tucker's library, and must have read about human chimeras at some point. In turn, they were not so confused when Bido climbed the wall. What do you think?**

**And, since I thought adding it to the last chapter, I will say this here. I also changed Bido's letter to make it for appealing. It may be just me, but "We know your secret. Come to the old factory on the West side", seems way too obvious and intimidating.**

**BTW, dear readers, do any of you mind me explaining some of my changes, or would you rather figure them out on your own? I just sometime worry people are getting bored as they are not seeing any difference between my fanfiction and the original manga bar genders.**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter, anyway ^_^.**


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

_**A Fool's Courage**_

The alchemy teacher was winning another fight. Dolcetto, the eye-patched man and the hypnotist already lay on the ground. Only Roa remained. Away dodging a few hammer swings (one coming far too close to her head), she grabbed him by the arm, and much to his surprise, swing him around and pinned him to the floor before elbowing him in the head.

Greed, who had been watching in both amazement and annoyance, finally spoke up.

"Hey, hey, Missy. Suddenly doing that isn't nice," he told her in a manner akin to a parent scolding.

"So, you're responsible here?" the dark-haired woman asked. "You took a member of my family, and even though she was stupid enough to allow it…" she shot another glare at the armour girl. "_No-one_ harms my family." She walked up to Greed and looked up at him, her hands on her hips once more. "I'm taking her back home now."

Greed placed his fists on his hips and raised his thin eyebrows. "Sorry, but I'm not done with her. It's not open for discussion."

_Wham!_ Izumi punched him in the side of the head. However, she was the one surprised this time. It only knocked him off balance.

"Do you warn of anything before you do it?" the leather-clad homunculus said in a disgruntled tone as he rolled his eyes, beginning to drop his newest act. Izumi responded with a right hook – and had to bite her tongue to stop herself crying out in pain. It was as if she had hit a rock.

Greed gave his grin at the woman's almost hidden expression. "Your fingers must be hurting a lot, huh?" he asked smugly, carbonising his hand (making it appear like a claw), he punched the woman in arm to knock it away.

"Gah!" she let out a cry this time. She pulled her hand back and glanced at it. The knuckle skin was torn and beginning to bleed and she was sure most of the bones underneath were broken.

"Sensei! Are you OK?" Alphonsa asked rather franticly and pulled at her bindings to no avail.

"Give me a break, eh?" Greed asked Izumi. "I don't like fighting women."

"That's quite a unique body you have there," the housewife commented. "It looks like you carbonised your body to make it hard enough to rival a diamond."

"It's sort of unique." The smug smile was back as he reduced he spread the transformation over his chest for the woman to better see. "You're not gonna even scratch me with that kind of weak attack."

"Edwina could probably help with this…urgh, if only she wasn't away…"

Greed picked up the murmur, and replied, "Of course she's 'away'" before glancing back at the armour girl. "That girl told me she was dead."

"I didn't say that," Alphonsa said, taking her turn to feel smug. "You just assumed from my wording."

"You…tricked me?"

The younger Elric ignored him. "Sensei, this person is a homunculus!"

Said being clenched his fists as he turned around to look at her to retort, "Hey! Don't spill _my_ secret so suddenly!"

"What are you talking about, Alphonsa?" the teacher mussed.

"He has information on how Nee-san and I can get our bodies back! I'll need to tell her!"

Izumi's face was blank. "Really…? A homunculus?" She placed her hands on her hips. "So all I have to do is use quick moves to beat the secret out of him…"

"No!" the armour girl mentally jumped. "Your injury looks really serious, Sensei! Don't hurt yourself more!"

"And again, I don't wonna fight a woman," Greed said with his arms folded, before pointing at Alphonsa. "I only wonna know how her soul was transmuted.

"Why do you want to know that?" Izumi prodded.

The three chimeras in the room had now recovered their senses.

"Urgh, this woman's just troublesome, Greed!" Dolcetto declared before running at her. "Let's just ki—" he was sent spiralling back onto the floor by an almost casual fist to the face.

"Dolcetto!" Roa shouted in anger. He did not try to make own move though. This women was strong, perhaps even stronger than him, he had to admit.

Greed grabbed a hold of Alphonsa's helmet.

"Hey, let go!" she yelped.

You know, I'm getting tired of this," the gang-leader said, before focusing back on the older alchemist. "I propose a trade. The girl's sis came teach me how to transmute a soul and I'll teach them, and maybe you, how to male homunculus. How does that sound? An equal trade? I just want to do this peacefully."

"You're telling me listen to the kidnapper?" the dark-haired woman shouted. "Don't talk such bull—" She stopped herself, returning to her severe tone. "You're called Greed, right? I heard that guy call you that." She paused to place her hand on her hip again. "Us alchemists primarily believe in creation, so I don't like to say this kind of thing, but…IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO THE PEOPLE CLOSE TO ME, THEN I WON'T HESITATE TO ELIMINATE EVERYTHING HERE!"

Greed simply replied with a cool smile. Izumi turned on her heel and set off towards the exit. "I'll be back in a bit." Whatever chimeras or guard who got in her way, even if they attempted just words, were either pushed or punched to the side.

The gnag leader placed a hand on Alphonsa's shoulder. "Your sensei's amazing."

* * *

The Fullmetal Alchemist had just arrived back at Dublith. She was tired, and a two children arguing over whom won a game of drafts had prevented sleep on the train.

"It's even hotter than when I left…" her thought was as she slung her coat over one shoulder and picked up her suitcase. "I really hope Al and can return to our original bodies at least by the end of this year…"

"Oooh! Dublith sure is beautiful!" A man said as he left the train behind her. Normally, the blonde teenager ignored such things, but something in that voice told her to turn around. It was familiar. She did so, and jumped in surprise. The Führer stood behind her in a floral-print, short-sleeved shirt and tan khakis, while the Strong-Arm Alchemist picked up his suitcase.

"It's a great city, Fullmetal Alchemist!" Bradley said as he placed a fedora on his head and picked up an object next to him.

Edwina's jaw had dropped for a moment. "D-did you _follow_ me, Sir?!"

"Yes. I do apologise," the man said, giving a small bow. "I'm here to see your Sensei."

"That's _stalking!_ I mean, that's _stalking, Sir!_"

Armstrong chuckled as he straightened up. "It's so easy to follow a teenager. _It's the famous Armstrong stalking technique!_"

The Führer ignored them and held out a watermelon contained in netting. "This is a souvenir. Does she like melon?"

"Wait, so you really are going to try and recruit her?" Edwina asked as she took the melon.

"Yes!"

"Well, be prepared, Sir…be prepared…"

A little later, Sid and Izumi had returned to the shop. Sid had been a little worried about both his wife's hand and that she had not returned with Alphonsa, but could tell she was planning something. As he send away one of his most loyal customers with a smile, a woman with four children to feed, Führer Bradley came in. Edwina and Armstrong watched from outside.

"Good afternoon," Sid said, not recognising the man. "Haven't seen you before. What can I get you? I have some good offers. A hundred gram ham for a hundred-and-twenty cents for example."

"Oh, I'm not here to buy," The ruler replied, removing his hat as he walked in. "I'm looking for a woman called Izumi Cutris. According what I've heard, you are her husband."

Sid's eyes narrowed. "I got two chicken breasts for one-hundred-and-twenty cents."

Bradley leaned on the counter. "I heard she's quite skilled in alchemy."

"Beef shoulder, a hundred-and-sixty-cents!"

"How about letting her try out being a State Alchemist?"

"Minced pork and beef, ninety-nine cents!"

The two State Alchemists had had enough. Armstrong walked over to Bradley, waving his hands as he said, "Sir, it seems words aren't going to work here. Let me handle this."

"Very well."

"You stubborn shopkeeper!" Armstrong bellowed. Edwina knew immediately what was coming next, but Bradley was rather surprised. Indeed, Armstrong yet again tore off his jacket and shirt. Flexing his muscles, he continued, "_Behold, the gracefulness of the State Alchemists!_ BURN THIS AWESOME SIGHT INTO YOUR EYES!"

There was an incredibly awkward silence. Then – Sid too tore of his shirt with a roar. The eye-patched ruler just stared. The Fullmetal Alchemist simply slapped her hand over her face.

The two tall, muscular men shook their mighty fists.

"Wow, friendship born from muscles!" Mason said as he carried a hunk of pork to be cut.

Edwina was now a little amused by the sight. Suddenly, from the back of the shop, she heard her teacher calling her name. That amusement turned to fear in an instant.

"Don't be so nervous," Izumi said as she walked around the building to the teenager. "We need to talk. It's about Alphonsa." Taking the girl inside and placing her suitcase and coat on the table, she explained the previous and earlier day's events.

"What do you mean, 'kidnapped'?" Edwina cried the moment she heard the word.

"It's quite complicated," the alchemy teacher replied with a frown and folded arms.

"What are they after? A ransom? Selling her armour for scrap mental? _Slavery?_"

Izumi was blunt as always. "Their leader asking for details regarding soul transmutation. He wants you to go over and show him how it's done."

"Who the hell would want—"

"He's called 'Greed' and he had an ouroboros tattoo on his on the back of his hand." Edwina, along with Bradley, started at the word 'ouroboros'.

"Are you sure?" The blonde asked, images of the dark-haired woman, the plump man, and the wispy-haired man circulating her thoughts.

"Yes. He was clearly not an ordinary human. He had powers even alchemists would have trouble handling."

The teenager's eyes drifted to Izumi's right hand. "Sensei…did that guy hurt you?"

"Oh, this?" the dreadlocked woman replied, raising her hand. "It's no big deal. He was just unexpectedly strong and I let my guard down. Completely my fault."

After a few more of staring Edwina declared, "Sensei, I'll go to that guy's place.

Izumi's hands returned to her hips. "Alone?!"

The girl smiled, but only a small one. "It's mine and Al's problem, so let me go alone, please?"

"_You MORON! I'm not gonna let you go to such a dangerous place without me! I've heard of what happens to you want you go alone!" _The woman roared.

"No, it's ok!" Edwina cried back, waving her hands defensively. "They only want the information I have!" She gave another smile, this time a nervous one. "I'm not going to get killed, I promise!"

After some thought, the older alchemist sighed. Turning away she retorted, "Alright, do whatever you want." Her pupil's eyes widened. "Just be back here by dinner. Al too."

"Yes, ma'am!" Edwina replied, standing straight.

Neither of them saw the Führer was deep in thought. Izumi sketched a map for her pupil and she left. After walking a few paces, she paused to consult the map. "Devil's Nest…if they've done anything to Al…." she crumpled the piece of paper in her fist.

Soon, Edwina was walking fists clenched, unflinching, down the alleyway that lead to the bar, catching everyone's attention by her resolve. They tried to act friendly, her height and lowered face making them think she was younger than she was.

"Hey, kid, what are you doing here? It's not safe…" a man tried to say. The blonde ignored him.

"If you're looking for something to do, I'll play with you," his wife offered. Again, there was no response. Two more men were about to say something, but caught a glimpse of the alchemist's face and backed away slowly.

Edwina arrived at the Devil's Nest, and the guards readied themselves for combat.

"I am Edwina Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist," She said solemnly to the men. "I'm the older sister of Alphonsa and the woman your boss is looking for."

Silently, two of the men (including the hypnotist) lead her down to the basement. The four inside (Greed, Alphonsa, and the now-recovered Roa and Dolcetto) looked around as she entered.

"Nee-san! I know you'd come!" Alphonsa proclaimed in happiness.

"Hey, Al," Edwina replied, flashing a smile to her before looking at the homunculus, her flesh hand in her pocket. "You're Greed?"

"Yes. And you're Miss Edwina Elric?" he replied and asked, that false smile on his face.

"Yes."

"We wanted to have this with only the armoured girl here, but she said you know what I need."

"You're a homunculus, right?" the Fullmetal Alchemist bared her teeth in anger. "Is this for real?"

The spikey-haired man's smile changed to a frown. "My policy is to never lie. I'll show you proof…" Roa raised his hammer. "Oh wait, it's too messy. Just take my word for it, ok?"

"Nee-san, the information on my soul transmutation would be in trade for information regarding homunculus," Alphonsa informed Edwina in the moment of silence.

"Equivalent Exchange?" the older Elric suggested.

"Yes. It seems so. I guess it would be good, but at the same time, that's one of our biggest secrets."

The blonde looked straight at Greed. "DON'T TALK SHIT!" Dolcetto jammed his fingers into his ears with another yelp. "_Do you understand the situation, here?! I don't care what your ouroboros squad think!_" The gang leader and the ox-chimera's exchanged glances. "_You kidnapped my sister! You injured my Sensei! And you still demand equal trade?!_" Her fists were clenched again. "_You're some of the worst VILLANS I have seen in a long time! I won't tell you a damn thing about transmutation!_" Martel felt her body actually spasm in response to the alchemist's hollering. "_Villains should be beaten! Crushed! Looted! I've take secrets from YOU!_" She thrust her accusing finger at them all. "_Villains don't get equal trade!_" She had to take a deep breath afterwards.

The gang leader clapped sarcastically. Even Alphonsa was a little surprised at the outburst.

"This girl's an idiot…" Dolcetto said.

Greed sighed again. "I guess it's back to force then." Dolcetto readied his katana and Roa his hammer. "And Dolcetto…try not to get punched out again. I know you're better than this."

"Shut up! I can handle this! I'm gonna break her bones!" The dog-chimera rushed at the girl, drawing his weapon back. Roa waited.

With a strong-minded expression, Edwina leapt as the Dolcetto swung the blade around, twisting in the air.

"You're slow!" she mocked as she turned, almost graceful. "Compared to two certain death row committees, you're so slow!" As she descended, she punched Dolcetto with her left hand (it was closest), right under his chin, causing him to soar in an arc and hand head-first on the floor.

"What is wrong with me…" he managed to growl through the pain.

Edwina move away from him and transmuted her automail blade. "Next…" she charged at Greed.

The gang leader had had enough. There was no other choice.

"Roa," he said bluntly. "Take the armour girl away. We'll dissect and analyse her."

"Yes," the ox-chimera replied with a nod. Alphonsa gave a cry of "Whoa! No!" as Roa heaved her body over on shoulder in a fireman's carry. Martel slid forwards, and had to reset herself.

"Roa! Be more gentle, will you!" she barked.

"Sorry Martel," the man replied.

Edwina increased her running pace with a cry of "No way!".

"Oh, and get someone to tend to Dolcetto. He's having such a bad day," Greed added as he stepped forward to the older Elric. Roa scooped up the dog-chimera under his other arm and left.

As Edwina sprang forwards the dark-haired humanoid transformed his hand into the dark grey carbon substance and the blade chipped as it came into contact. He then shoved the teenager back, causing her to stumble.

"Why have all my attackers been women?" he asked, frowning again as the girl steadied herself. "It's like God knows I hate fighting females."

The blonde looked at him with clenched teeth as she angrily said. "I hate men who go easy or refuse to fight a woman just because she's female. Although it does have one advantage…" after checking the blade she lunged forwards again. "It's makes winning that little bit easier!"

This time Greed seized the girl by her wrist (the toughened flesh making it seem even tighter that it was) and throw her to the ground. She was winded for a moment, but stood again.

"Look, it's your fault we had to take your sister to be dissected, since you wouldn't tell me the information I need," the homunculus explained in a scolding manner.

"My fault!?" Edwina cried, trying to get more air into her lungs. "Again, _you kidnapped my sister and injured my Sensei_! This is all _your_ fault! You're a villain, and villains don't deserve what they want! I know I'm not an angelic person, but I'm trying to defend my family and do what's right! Once you're out of my way, I'm getting my sister back!" She clapped her hands together and placing them on the ground. Creating a stone block from the ground, the blonde stepped onto it and used it to propel herself into the a little higher than her jump, and with a cry of anger, she switched into a diving position, aiming her blade at the man's exposed face. Greed was now grinning as, much as he disliked fighting females, he was enjoying the steely determination of this girl and that of her Sensei.

"It's futile!" he taunted the alchemist regardless, transforming all of his body excluding his head just to taunt her more, and used his leg to block the automail blade. "That blade isn't gonna scratch me in the slightest! Just give up!"

With an animalistic growl, Edwina backed away a distance and slammed her hands into the floor again, sending a row of spikes speeding towards her opponent, but similar to Alphonsa before her, he used his fists to punch off the tops of the spikes, laughing as he did so.

_Hm…direct attacks won't work_, the older Elric thought to herself as she stood ready for another move. _I need to try something clever…I got it!_

Rushing forward to the second last spike, and before Greed could make another common, she clapped her hands and placed them on the spike. It splintered into dust, and the girl made sure all of it when into the gang leader's eyes. As she had hoped, Greed had to shield his eyes and Edwina executed the next part of her plan. The humanoid was just beginning to see clearly again and compose himself – when he suddenly two legs clamp around his neck.

"Huh?" he questioned. "What the hell are you— gah!"

His cry of pain was cut short as the girl, using her feet to grasp and hands to turn, turned the man's extra weight (from the carbonisation) to twist around, and slammed him head first into the ground with a horrible _crack!_ Blood oozed from a wound in the back of the homunculus's.

"Ha!" Edwina said as she sat up on her knees, a triumphant smile on her face. "Spitting your skull open…a new talent I think."

Unfortunately her feeling of glory only last a few minutes. With a growl similar to the girl's previous one, Greed, ignoring his injury completely, rolled on his hands and lashed out at the blonde by the leg using his left hand. Edwina rolled a dodge with a surprised cry of "Whoa! What the hell?!" She was not fast enough, and staggered with pain as she went to stand, her hand automatically going to the gouge on her stomach as blood seeped out and stained her black top.

"Oooh, that was another sore one," the dark-haired man commented, as blood dripped of the back of his head onto the floor.

"Sensei was right, you _are_ a homunculus," Edwina hissed through her own pain.

"Good that you realised," Greed said casually as he moved onto one knee and rubbed his head as it began to regenerate in the same manner as the Lust and Envy. "This and the tattoo are pretty much the one way to tell between us and normal humans. My body composition is the ordinary humans. All I have is a faster regeneration rate, like you just saw, and the 'ultimate shield'. I rearrange the carbon in my body, you see. Make it hard as a diamond."

"Wait…so you're immortal?" the older Elric questioned, her face now back to its determined and angry expression as she ignored the pain in her gut. If she could keep him talking, she could get information and give herself time to think.

Greed raised his hand. "Oh, how I _wish_ I was immortal!" He stood up. "Look, you're not going to beat me with my powers, and I don't like fighting women, so it would be smarter and easier for both of us if you went for the deal I made. That what, I can tell my subordinates not to dissect the armoured girl."

The blonde just stared him down with fiery eyes.

"…I mean, it seems that you're OK with getting injured physically, but you can't stand being hurt emotionally. You lose control." There was still no reply. "How ignorant!" Greed was beginning sound truly angry. "You'd rather follow that fighting instinct and risk losing your sister and valuable information?"

The older Elric took a step forward, firmly planting her foot on the ground. "You can't regenerate indefinitely. If I break you enough times, eventually you'll fall."

"Gah hah hah hah!" Greed bellowed. "Fine. No more Mr. Nice Guy. I don't care if you're female, I'm going full out!" With that he threw off his sleeveless jacket and transformed his entire body into that dark grey carbonic substance. Edwina's eyes widen, more in shock than fear. She only word she could find as for the man's appearance was demonic. His homunculus veins and nodules sharply swept across his face and chest. His eyes were now slanted as well as thin, and were completely black apart from white pupils. His teeth were even more sharp and animalistic, the bottom row now sticking out of his mouth, even with it closed.

Nevertheless, Edwina swallowed her fear (she always did, even if it was a rare feeling) and readied her automail blade, despite the man's previous warning

The two ran at each other.

* * *

As Roa turned the corner in the corridor, Dolcetto stirred.

"Urgh…." He groaned.

"Hey, Dolcetto. How are you feeling?" The muscular man asked as he put his friend down. Alphonsa took the moment to look around and figure out where they were going.

"Everything hurts….that bastard women…that bastard girl…" The dog-chimera groaned as he sat up. Cupping his knees with his arms he whined. "I've been on such a losing streak lately!"

Roa patted him on the back. "You can live with it. We all have our bad days. Can you walk?"

Suddenly the younger chimera looked up, his nose giving a sharp twitch. He growled, baring his teeth and clenching his fists. "I smell something really unpleasant."

The smell was accompanied by the rumbling thumps of heavy boots on the ground above them.

"It's nostalgic…" Roa said gruffly. "This is…"

A group of fifteen soldiers, evenly split between the genders, were running down the road to the Devil's Nest, most with their rifles at the ready. At their front was the Führer. With only a few shots fired, the group easily took out all the guards. The group them made their way to the back entrance, a tunnel leading into the sewers.

Bradley spoke up when everything was quiet again. He stood, lacking a military jacket and guns, two sabres attached to his back, and one in his hands, planted on the ground. "Remember my orders: Retrieve the big, armoured female, and the teenager with braided hair, bring them out safely. Capture the man with an Ouroboros tattoo on the back of his hand!"

"And the rest?" the Strong-Arm alchemist asked.

Bradley took a moment before replying. "Cut them down," he said sternly.

* * *

**Author's Note:**** I thought I would get this one up quickly to make up for the long delay last time.**

** I**** have not really that much to say. If I think of something else, I will add it.**

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter, dear readers. I have another FMA fanfiction, set in the manga world (but the only reason is Xing, I prefer the 2003 anime), featuring my OC and I am so disappointed that no-one has checked it out yet, so many, one of you could read it?**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, dear readers ^_^.**


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

_**The King's Eye**_

Five of the Amestrisian soldiers raced through the bar's main room. After an intense fight of many bullets, reloading, smashed bottles and broken furniture, most of the chimeras and guards lay dead, though the soldiers had wanted to recapture them, and keep two alive. The two women whom Greed had been with were also present, holding each other in fear.

"Pieces of shit," one captured chimera growled at the man and woman holding him at gunpoint as he gripped his wounded side. "I'm not going back to the labs! I'd rather die!"

A major, who was leading the team, ignored them and confirmed, "Main room, clear!"

"Basement room one, clear!" a sergeant confirmed from down the stairs as he and his partner finished checking. However they missed one area. Both screamed in pain as a katana sliced open their backs in quick succession. They crumpled to the floor, bleeding profusely, as an unwavering Dolcetto landed on the floor with a smirk.

"Pretty strong, aren't I?" He boasted behind him, to the hypnotist following him.

"In front of you!" the older man warned.

The katana-weirder flicked his head around to find himself facing two more soldiers at the door, ready to fire their handguns. Suddenly there was a _crash_ followed by the _crunch_ of bones broken by rubble and a mighty hammer blow.

"Don't let your guard down," the hammer-wielding man warned Dolcetto as he shook off rubble from the hole in the wall as if it was dust.

"Ah, sorry about that," the younger man replied.

"The first level has been taken over. The back exit can't be used either," Roa explained as he picked up the riffle from one of the soldier's warm hands.

"What about the boss?" the bald man asked as he took the offered firearm.

"No need to worry about him. We are to defend this level until he returns."

"Right," Dolcetto commented as they headed towards the hole in the wall to hide for a surprise attack. "I'll just focus on not losing my life in the process."

* * *

"Are you dead?" Greed asked Edwina as he stepped back.

The young alchemist was slumped against the opposite wall, her torn-off blade discarded, her clothes ripped, the automail wires exposed, her lip bleeding, her face bruised, and a skid of blood marking the wound to the back of her head. However, the girl was not yet done. Slowly, she moved onto her knees, before straightening up. It took her a moment to steady herself.

"Heh, heh, you sure are lively," the man commented.

With anger overtaking thinking, Edwina replied with another grown and again flung herself at the man, delivering a punch to his chin. Chunks of metal flew off the arm and Greed smirked.

"You're not going to defeat me no matter how hard you try," he told the girl before grabbing her by her face. She cried out before she was winding by being flung into a pile of boxes.

"Well now…" the homunculus said matter-of-factly as he walked over to the girl and swiftly wrenched her in front of him by the front of her top. She hung like a ragdoll. "You better spit out the secret of soul transmutation." When she did not respond, he shook grabbed her with both hands and shook her. "Come on, talk!" The girl gritted her teeth and her automail arm twitched.

She spoke in a low voice. "Thanks for this."

"Hm?" the man questioned, tilting his head to the side.

"The blood rushing to my head is lessening due to the way you're holding me. I can think more clearly now." She moved her eyes to look at her mechanical arm. _Winter sure did a good job this time. Even in this state, I can move still move it. My body feels lighter too…_ She raised her hands and before the homunculus could do anything other than make a noise of surprise, she clamped her hands onto the his right arm and quickly rearranged the carbon before applying heat to the now normal skin, until he felt the searing pain and threw her backwards. Prepared for this, the girl extended her hands and landed on all fours, skidding for a few feet before her legs gave out.

After examining his arm, Greed looked at the alchemist. "Still resisting, eh?" He walked up to the unmoving blonde and raised his hand in a fist. "Enough of this! Just tell me your damn secret!" He swung his fist down, but the girl was ready. Alchemising some spikes onto her metal hand, she used her fist to block the blow. More metal bent and creaked, but it was to take most of the impact. A normal, flesh-and-bone hand would be broken by such a strike.

On the upper level, the exact same thing had happened, only with Roa's hammer and Armstrong's gauntlet-clad fist, with a crackle of alchemy thrown in. Their even strength and Armstrong's gauntlet protected the soldier from breaking his bones.

"See that!" Armstrong bellowed, pointing at the hammer head. Roa looked back at it. The State Alchemist had transformed it into a head-to-hips model of himself. "_That is the legendary passed down the Armstrong family for generations!"_

Roa, Dolcetto and the hypnotist were lost for words.

"…I guess my normal method won't work here," the ponytailed man said when the rather awkward moment had passed, while removing his jacket. He let out an almighty roar quite unlike his infused animal, as he to transform. His muscles multiplied, his height became a great deal more than Armstrong's, and to small horns morphed onto his head. "You two stay back!" he roared at his friends.

"Interesting…" the Strong-Arm mused at the site, but not for long, as the man swung his fist at him. Armstrong just dodged, and Roa's punch collided with the wall where Armstrong had been standing, smashing it. The State Alchemist responded with a punch to the man's face, digging the spikes on his gauntlets into him, but his smile was cut short. With a look of fury and blood beginning to run down his face, the chimera grabbed Armstrong's wrist. The man's eyes widened and he let out a cry as Roa hoisted him over his shoulders and slammed him into the ground.

For a moment, he was dazed, but as, the chimera charged at him again, he readied himself. As Roa latched one hand around this throat and the other around his left arm, he used his free arm to painfully grip Roa's head – causing his grip on his arm to slacken – and wrenched his left arm free, pulling it back for another blow. He drove it across the gang member's mouth, knocking out a few teeth, before delivering a left hook to his face. The grey-haired man tried to response with a punch of his own after recovery, but Armstrong was quick, and threw him to the ground with a flip just as the fist connected. He gave a small chuckle as he crouched and examined the blood on his fist and gauntlets.

Roa slowly moved onto one knee with the comment, "Mr. Armstrong, you're name suits you well. Your footwork is impressive too."

"I have not felt my blood rushing through my views like this for a while," the State Alchemist declared.

"I participated in the Ishval massacre, so I have trained well," Roa continued, having to blink blood from his left eye. "From what I have seen, you have too. You _are_ a State Alchemist."

The major took a sharp breath. "Former comrades…perhaps we should stop this then. We are both guilty of crimes. I have paid for mine. So should you. I do not enjoy senseless killing, so just surrender! All of you!"

Roa gritted his teeth. "That's an impossible request! We have a job to do."

Just as the bald man opened his mouth to reply again, two more soldiers rushed around the corner. The woman had a handgun while the ponytailed man a rifle.

"Major, please move aside. We have a good shot!" the man asked the alchemist. He did not move. "Major!"

"Don't be foolish!" Armstrong snapped at the duo.

"The Führer is here too," the woman explained.

Dolcetto almost dropped his katana in surprise. "_Bradley?!_"

"Why would such a high-ranking guy like him come here?!" asked the hypnotist.

"You probably know what this means," the Strong-Arm Alchemist told the chimeras.

"Well, since Bradley was the guy who ordered the massacre of Ishval…he's going to try and wipe us out once and for all!" the katana-wielder's comment became an exclamation at the last part.

"Hmph," the ox-chimera huffed and then crack his knuckles and stretched his arms.

"Roa, he's too strong, even for you!" Dolcetto tried to convince his friend. "Let's just escape."

"Yeah." The hypnotist agreed before quietly adding, "We'll use the hidden pathway."

Suddenly, as the three were about to run, Dolcetto felt a great pain shoot through his back to his chest. The other two turned around to see as the man gasped and looked down. All three pairs of eyes enlarged. There was a sabre sticking out of his chest, blood slowly making its way along it.

"What are you doing, Major Armstrong? You should be fighting" the deep, solemn voice of the Führer asked, almost causal but also slightly reprimanding. He stood almost in shadow, in the hole Roa had made.

"Y-you?" was all the dog chimera managed to grown through gritted teeth as he looked behind him. Before he could say anything more, Bradley drew out the blade, snaked his arm around and sliced him across the abdomen. He fell listless the floor only a moment later, into a small pool of his own blood, his sword landing with a clatter beside him. His were still half-open, revealing his condition.

"_Dolcetto!_" Roa screamed again, this time his voice full of anger and sadness at the loss of his good friend. He transformed his body further; his hands baring hoof-like claws, his skin darkened and became even more rippled. He charged with a snort like his animal fuse. The hypnotist, who had just came out of shock, turned his gun on Bradley with a yelp, but the Führer moved at an inhuman speed, and sliced open from his head to his groin after only two missed shots. He sank backwards as blood burst forth.

Roa took his change; he reached out with his clawed hand to the man's head, looking to crush it. With almost graceful whirl, the Führer pulled out another sabre and slashed Roa across the chest, throat, and head. Forgetting everything else He fell to his knees, trying to stem the flow. He slumped over only a few minutes later. In this time, Bradley walked over to Armstrong, sheathing one of his swords as he did so, and continued in his reproaching tone, "Didn't I tell all of you to kill everyone excluding the objectives?" The eye-patched man walked past the silent major a few paces. "Again, I must remind you: don't feel sympathy for your enemies. This is why you haven't been able to be promoted." He headed back down the tunnel in the smashed wall, with Armstrong still in silence.

Down below, Greed was surprised by the pain he felt as his fish again collided with the girl's automail. He even saw blood. He looked at his hand. Inside of diamond-hard grey flesh, he saw soft skin

_An alchemical reaction?_ He cursed to himself. Never the less, he re-rearranged the carbon to cover his hand, before testing it against the nearby wall. Hid claws went through it like butter. Thinking nothing of it, he looked back over at the girl. With that steely resolve still on her face, she beckoned to him with a flick of her finger. Greed rushed at her, throwing out a kick. The blonde just managed to dodge, feeling her hair momentarily caught. However, this left her with the opening she hoped for. She clapped her hands and placed one on the man's chest, quickly drawing back as he lashed out with his left arm, not noticing what she had done. She stepped back a few paces and sent another line of spikes towards the homunculus.

"That pattern, again?" Greed asked as he looked at the incoming spikes. "How unfortunate that you didn't realise last time that that wouldn't wor—" two of the spikes pierced his abdomen. "What?" He yelled as the strident pain raced through him, causing him to topple onto his back. After the worst of the pain had past, he moved onto his hands and knees, one hand across his abdomen, trying to stem the flow of blood from the gouged skin.

"Argh…what did you do to my shield? You damn alchemist!" he growled.

"It's pretty simple when you think about it," Edwina told him plainly, now standing up after wiping some of the blood from her face. "You can't make something out of nothing. You mentioned that, although you're a homunculus, your body has the same material composition as humans." Her eyes while the man managed to move into a crouching position. "Carbon makes up a third of the human body. The hardness of carbon changes depending on the intermolecular bonds of the carbon atoms." The wounds on Greed's sides had begun to regenerate. "Such change can alter something as soft and mundane as the graphite of a pencil to be as tough as a diamond." Edwina retuned to a fighting stance as Greed, now healed, ran at her again. "As long as I know how something works, my knowledge of alchemy will do the rest.

"Hah hah!" Greed chuckled. "This makes it more interesting!"

Rather than block the homunculus's fist, she spread her automail hand to catch and cup it, using her all her remaining strength to keep it in place. She then replaced her on the man's chest as she continued talking. "Furthermore, there is something I just figured out!" Greed gasped as the air rushed from his lungs as Edwina elbowed him in the gut before punching him backwards. As the man stumbled backwards, noting his shield crumbling, the alchemist curled her arm in front of her and exclaimed, "That hardening and regeneration cannot happen at the same time!"

Out came that charismatic chuckle before the gang-leader straightened up. "And here I was thinking you were just a hot-headed brat. But you're a bad match to fight against. You're a challenge." His eyes shivered to the vent above him as he heard heavy footsteps outside. "I gotta go now."

"Wha—" she was not able to finish the sentence, for at that moment the two soldiers who had encountered the major kicked the door open.

"There's the teenager!" the man cried.

"And the man with the Ouroboros!" the woman added with a start. "Miss! Get out of the way!" The two opened fire, and Edwina leapt backwards with a start. None of the bullets hit, as Greed bounded towards the vent, punched through it and managed to squeeze his way in. Two more soldiers arrived, one making his way over to Edwina and the other tried to figure out how to get into the air duct.

"Are you alright?" He asked, before hoisting her over his shoulder. "The rest of you, find that man, I'll take the girl to safety."

"Wait!" Edwina cried squirming and kicking. "Put me down!"

"Hey, we're rescuing you! Stop thrashing around!" the man.

"I need to ask that man something important!" Edwina yelled back at him.

"Sorry, but I'm under orders to get you to safety regardless," he carried the still struggling alchemist out of the room. The other soldiers, finding the vent too small headed out of the door as well, continuing their search. Once everyone was gone, Greed squeezed his way back out of the duct. With a grin of victory, he set off in the opposite direction of the soldiers.

* * *

Alphonsa inched her way across the sewer floor, her armour rattling as Martel struggled as much.

"Be…obedient!" she growled. She would not admit that she was saddened by the fact that what could have been a new friendship born from a bad situation was at an end.

"No! I…won't…be cut up!" Alphonsa snarled back.

The two immediately found themselves stopping when they saw someone walking along the tunnel. It was Greed.

"Oh, so you two are safe, huh?" the homunculus asked as he spotted the two on the floor.

"It was getting dangerous up there, and as much as I wanted to fight, Roa left us down here," the blonde chimera informed him.

Greed frowned. "Yeah, it really is." He looked at Alphonsa for a moment to add, "That sister of yours sure is troublesome, armour girl." He took another look around. "Since it seems like only us three down here, let's just leave."

Martel and Alphonsa were about to resume their fight when a deep voice behind the trio said, "I'm afraid I can't let you do that."

The homunculus began to turn around, "And who might you—" He stopped. The man had an eye patch, a stern expression, and two sabres on his back. "What? Why?"

"Mr. Führer, if you're here then…is this situation really that bad?!" Alphonsa asked in a high tone.

Just like her comrades, Martel's eyes expanded to resemble saucers as she cried. "The Führer is here?!"

"Hmph," Greed breathed. "What is the most powerful man in this nation doing in a sewer?" He could take a guess, but even if it were true, he did not understand why. He was not affecting Father's plan in any way.

"How old are you?" Bradley asked.

"What kind of question is that right now?" the confused gang leader replied with a raised eyebrow. The armour girl and snake-chimera decided watching was the best option now.

"I'm turning sixty this year," Bradley went on, beginning to walk closer to the other man. "The body doesn't move as well as one ages. I just want to get this kind of work done and so I can home."

"You should retire then, Pops," The homunculus said with a grin, deciding to keep the act going, and began to carbonise his arm. He looked down in shock as Bradley effortlessly sliced his arm, right above the transformation, taking it clean off. Greed backed away in surprise and pain. The armour girl and snake chimera were both surprised and amazed.

"Whoa! You lair, Pops!" Greed said as he placed his hand on the stump to manually help it restore. He had little time to do so. In a flash, Bradley was right next to him and with another powerful swing took off Greed's other arm right at the elbow. Greed yelled again, and Bradley finished of the move with a kick to his chest, sending the man right through the brick wall.

"No time for regeneration," He told his opponent coolly as he stepped through the hole. Enthralled, Alphonsa and Martel crawled to the hole to continue their viewing. Bradley raced at the man as his skin crackled as it attempted to regenerate and harden. He sliced off the regaining flesh once more, halting both processes. "Or hardening to occur!" he finished his sentence before crossing and thrusting his sabres into Greed's neck, piercing right through with ease. He also purposely cut off his eye patch in the process. Blood now pour and trickled from Greed's mouth, the back of his neck, and his still severed and crackling arms.

"Bastard…" the homunculus hissed, his teeth clenched against the never-ending waves of pain.

"I don't have an Ultimate Shield like yours," the Führer yet went on, as he held his opponent in place. Or Ultimate Blades that can cut through anything. With that in mind, you must be wondering how a person like me can survive battlefields of full of flaying bullets and exploding shells, hm? How could I raise to this rank, despite this?" In place of an iris and pupil, Greed noticed a certain symbol on the man's uncovered and scarred right now. "Do you understand?" He leaned in closer to his fellow homunculus, so that the still enthralled Martel and Alphonsa would not hear, his face now full of the sin he represented. "_Just as you have the Ultimate Shield, I have the Ultimate Eye._"

"I _knew_ there was a reason you worked with us," Greed replied.

For a moment, Bradley smiled. "Well now, Greed. How many times do I have to kill you before you die?"

* * *

**Author's Note: Another fightful chapter. I did really have trouble putting original content into that type of chapter in a mostly pre-made fanfiction. Although, what am I saying? The vast majority of Shonen is sixty percent fighting and forty percent plot and character development XD. It gets boring after a while, and are usually male-heavy, several chapters-long "Dragon Ball", "Naruto", and "Bleach", style. **  
**Plus my original story (the one I have chosen to focus on, as I have three very different original fiction ideas on the go right now) will have quite a few fight scenes, so I am researching Medieval warfare, combining it with my biological knowledge, and remembering where Hollywood and fantasy writers get it wrong. And a good friend is helping with the other parts :). **

**Well, I hope you enjoyed it, dear readers. I am trying to speed up my character outputs, but I am feeling a little…uninspiredabout it right now.**

**Thank you ^_^.**


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

_**The Truth Inside the Armour**_

The patrons of "The Devil's Nest" were frustrated. It was the end of the day, and they wanted their drink, but military soldiers stopped them.

"What is going on? Why are you soldiers in a place like this?" A man with dark hair questioned.

"That information is classified. Just go somewhere else," the man told them bluntly, raising his gun.

At the back of the group, Bido fiddled with his fingers nervously. _What's going on? Are they hunting down us chimeras? Mr. Greed…_

Downstairs, the two soldiers on the second floor were now on lookout duty.

"You know," the man began as they looked down at the bodies of the chimeras. "It's amazing how much power these guys have."

The woman nodded. "The same goes for Major Armstrong and the Führer. I was actually thinking of starting to study alchemy recently, and ask the Major to be my teacher. I might not be strong enough to be a State Alchemist, but it would be a good addition to my battle strategy."

"Well, if you do, good luck. But I have to say…" the man's face became almost regretful. "Slaughtering all these people, criminals or not, it leaves a bitter taste, considering some of us were responsible for their existence in the first place."

The two did not notice movement behind them. Roa stirred, and slowly sat up. He looked at his wounds chest and throat wounds which had begun to scab unnaturally fast. Being fused with an ox meant more benefits than just strength. He slowly stood up, blinking blood from his eyes and wiping it from his mouth. At that moment, the female officer noticed the movement out of the corner of her eyes. Her comrade did not.

"Move!" she cried at her friend, and he looked confusedly at her as she shoved him aside. He could only watch as Roa grabbed her by the head and slammed it into the ground with all his force. A sickening crack of bone and a pooling of blood announced her death. The man pulled out his gun with a yell, but before he could get even a third bullet out – Roa punched clean through his chest, almost going right through to his back, and his mouth opened in a silence scream. The chimera dropped him next to his comrade.

Taking a moment to steady himself, as even if some of his wounds were healing, the ones on his arms still bleed fresh, and the red life fluid still seemed from his mouth, from some internal cut he could not pin. He checked Dolcetto and the hypnotist. They were truly gone. Full of anger, the ox chimera began making his way down to the sewers.

In the sewers, Alphonsa was leaning against a wall. As Greed and Bradley had disappeared into the darkness further down, the two had again resumed their own fight. However, this time it had only resulted in Alphonsa being tangled into the broken chains that still hung from her, making them both stop. They gave up completely. It was clear neither was going to win this time.

As they listened to the swish of blades and yells further down, Martel asked again. "Can you see them now?"

"It's still too dark," the armour girl replied. "Oh, wait a minute!"

The place had fallen into silence. After a few moments and a call from the teenager – Greed walked out from the shadows, an angry look on his face and the lower half of his arms still missing, and blood drying around his mouth.

"It's the homunculus," Alphonsa informed the woman.

"Mr. Greed, you ok?!" Martel asked as she moved and pushed up the younger Elric's helmet to better see. Both jumped as a blade came from the darkness and pierced greed in the neck again. The blonde woman gave a shout of anger as he fell to the ground with nothing more than a grunt. The Führer let him fall while his blade still embedded before pulling it out. Martel tried to make her way out of Alphonsa's armour, but the girl slammed her helmet back down with a cry of "No! You can't!" She accidently slammed Martel's reaching hand, but while she still felt the pain, her snake-infused body prevented her from breaking anything.

"Open up!" Martel shouted, pushing upwards on the helmet while the teenager pushed down.

"No! The Führer will kill you!" Alphonsa told her. Enemies or not, she could not let this woman make a stupid mistake.

As the two continued their new skirmish, Greed's arms and neck again began to regenerate and he found the strength to raise his head. Fresh blood dripped from his mouth.

"This makes your fifteenth death," Bradley took him as he watched, during which he held his sabres loosely. "How many more times? Hm?"

"You bastard…" was all the other man could muster.

"Enough of this," came a new voice from darkness in the other direction. Everyone expect Martel looked. Roa was making his way down the tunnel, his hammer gripped in one hand.

Martel managed to push up Alphonsa's helmet slightly in order to see. "Roa? Where's the others? Dolcetto? That doctor?"

"Dead," He told her bluntly. She blinked in shock, "And I don't think I'll last much longer. But seeing the boss like this…I have to do something." He walked over to the duo and crouched in front of them. With a sharp yank, he freed the armour girl from the chains. Up close, Alphonsa could see his many injuries.

"I know I've got no reason to ask this," Roa began in a strangely gentle voice, addressing the teenager. "But please, help Martel here escape. At least one of us, or in this case two, should get out alive."

"Um…ok," Alphonsa said after a moment of thought.

With that, Roa turned around and charged at the stationary Bradley with another roar.

Martel began banging as well as pushing at the exit to her armour prison. Her hands began to bruise but she did not care. "Roa! Let me out, girl! I don't have any more time to fight you! I should be fighting for my friends!"

"No! I'm getting you out of here!" Alphonsa cried back, trying to stand up while still holding her head down, the woman's movements impeding her.

As Roa clawed at the eye-patched man, he dodged to the side and slashed him across the stomach.

"_Open up!_" Martel's voice became furious but also desperate.

"I won't! Your friends are counting on me to keep you alive!"

"You're telling me I've just to shut up and let my comrades die? Strew that!"

As Roa swung his fist towards the man, he moved to the other side and forwards, impaling both his swords into his stomach-would and dragging them upwards towards his throat. The ox-chimera gave a final cry of pain before falling backwards to the ground, a pool of blood developing. All the healing in the world was not enough.

The snake-chimera, hearing this, began to lose her momentum, and her voice lowed and her banging became lighter and slower.

"Please…" she said, bowing her head. "I'm begging you, and I don't beg anyone for anything…"

"No," Alphonsa said, automatically reflecting her tone. The chimera continued to softly bang her fists.

As Bradley kicked Roa's body into the water Greed stood up. His arms, along with the wound in his neck, had finally regenerated.

"Now," he hissed as his arms completed their restoration. "Let me think about how you're going to pay for what you did to my subordinates."

"You pity the pawns?" Bradley enquired rhetorically with a turn of his head. "How foolish."

"_Sympathy?!_" Greed barked. "_Do you know who I am?! I'm Greed! Clue's in the name, I'm greedy! Women, money and subordinates, they all belong to me! Everything will belong to me! I won't give up my possessions!_"

The eye patched man's mouth curled into an amused smile. "Now you're even more foolish." With that, he speed forwards again, and impaled Greed through the nodules on his chest, ignoring his cry of pain as he was pinned to the floor in the water. "Stay down there for now," he said as he walked away.

_I need to get away, _the teenager thought as she noticed the man was heading towards her.

"Don't be so hasty," Bradley said calmly as he saw her moving. Alphonsa was halted simply by the power of his words. "Are you injured? Do you need a hand?"

"No, I'm alright," she told him quickly.

Martel took her moment. She pushed her arm into Alphonsa's left with a shout of "_Braaadleeey!_" and closed it around the man's neck. He did not even flinch as she tried to tightening the grasp.

"No, Miss Martel!" Alphonsa said as she attempted to pull away. "Stop it!"

Without a single word, Bradley drew out his remaining sword, used it to lift Alphonsa's helmet and plumped it into the chest cavity. Martel gargled as her blood spattered the metal and dripped out of links. Some also went across the blood seal.

Suddenly, the younger Elric felt a rushing sensation. Alphonsa was no longer in a Dublith sewer. She was not even a suit of armour anymore. She was that sweet-faced ten-year-old girl. She saw her sister reaching out with a yell of her name as she screamed, the arms disintegrating her. Suddenly, she was in _that_ place. The Truth grinned as she was sent through those great doors. Like her sister, images, both memories and new alchemical information, flew past her as she was speed through a vortex. The pain was great, her head feeling like it was going to explode, but every time she felt herself slow she did not feel there was enough. She gave and gave more of herself away to the arms, a large eye opened in front of her and she was a pure white figure before it. She smiled and reached out "Mum!" the figure turned and took her hand. The girl's smile was wiped from her face as it changed. For a moment, the Truth's smile flashed before she noticed the hand she now grasped. It was her own. The truth had half of her body and was quickly taking the rest. Alphonsa screamed.

As she sank into darkness she heard a voice.

"Wake up!" it cried. "Wake up! _Al!_"

And suddenly, she was back in the sewer, and her eyes snapped open. Someone was banging on her head while calling her name. She looked down. There sat Edwina, bandages around several parts of her body and her ripped jacket draped over her.

"N-Nee-san? What happened to you?" she asked.

"Forget me! Are _you_ OK?"

"I…" she looked down and noticed her breastplate had been torn off. "Ah!" She followed her sister's gaze as she looked behind her. Two soldiers, along with Major Armstrong, a bandage around his head and left eye, stood next to the blanketed bodies of Dolcetto, Roa and Martel.

Armstrong knelt down in front of the younger Elric, next to Edwina. "We had to open you up to get her out." He said gently.

The armour girl brought a hand to her face. "I couldn't save her…"

"Sorry," the major replied again in that gentle voice.

Edwina placed a hand on her shoulder, not understand why she wanted to save on of her kidnappers, but not wanting to upset her further. "It's not your fault, Al. For now, let's just go home. Mrs. Curtis is waiting."

"…OK," Alphonsa replied in a miserable tone.

"Wait a moment."

Every present officer stood and saluted as the Führer walked towards the sisters, his arms behind has back, a new eye patch on his face, and his swords still gone.

"Fullmetal Alchemist," he began as he came to a halt, his voice hinting anger. "Did you make any deals with the mastermind behind this, the man with the Ouroboros tattoo?"

"No," she replied candidly, looking at him with no fear.

"Well then, did you obtain any information?"

"Nothing that is beneficial to the military."

Bradley frowned. "Don't misunderstand. This is not for the military. If you have made deals with them, well…I might need to have you two executed, depending of the seriousness of this matter. Court martial is not enough, you see, and I will not go easy on you because you are young."

The three armed soldiers drew and cocked their guns at the sisters. Alphonsa tensed while Edwina scowled.

"We didn't make any deals," the older Elric replied. "Any more questions?"

"Yes. Your steel right arm and your sister's armoured body…are they related in any way?"

Edwina gulped. In her fear, she had forgotten her arm and Alphonsa's empty body were on full display to all those present. "It is none of your concern…sir." She replied after a beat of thought. She knew he would be angered by her curt response, but did not care. She just wanted to go to Izumi's, wash up, and repaired the younger Elric's armour.

"Ah, an honest answer," the Führer replied, his mouth lifting into a small smile. "I do like an honest person."

Edwina just stared, her face blank, as the man began to walk away, replacing his hands behind his back.

"Let's move out, you three," he said as he pasted the non-State Alchemist soldiers. He then raised a hand to say, "Oh, and Fullmetal Alchemist, take good care of yourself and your sister."

Armstrong insisted on escorting his fellow alchemists back to the Cutris house and after a brief explanation to an angry Izumi, had left them too it. Edwina took her bath, re-applied bandages, changed into a simple, long-sleeved back top, khaki trousers and slip-on sandals, and cleaned up Alphonsa with the Cutris' help. By now, it was dark. With the younger Elric now sitting on the back porch, Edwina finished off polishing the breastplate.

"There," she said, pleased with it. She expected a reply, but none came. Alphonsa had barely spoken since they had come out of the sewer. She turned to her. "Are you alright, Al?" she asked. "You look a little…distant."

"Oh?" Alphonsa said with a start. "I'm alright. I'm just confused, that's all."

"About what?"

"I've regain the memory of when my body was taken in _there_."

The blonde jerked, her full attention now on the younger teenager. "How…how was it?"

"I didn't find anything about human transmutation, well, no more than you. I give up so much for nothing…"

"I see…" Edwina bowed her head just like Alphonsa, as she handed her the breastplate, which she re-attached. "I'm sorry."

"What for?"

"I made you go through with it. It's my fault you lose so much."

"Nee-san," the younger Elric said with a slight chuckle. "I made that choice all by myself. I'm not as submissive as some people seem to think, and that I'm sure you know."

After a moment the older female replied. "Ah, you're right. Sometimes I think that somewhere in your mind, even if you say you don't, you do blame me."

"Well, I don't. So get over it," Alphonsa said frankly.

"You got it, ma'am!" Edwina said in a serious tone, saluting her. "Hey, you know the hospital in Central?"

"Oh yeah, I really laid into you there," the girl began, feeling a little more happy

"No, no, not that," Edwina corrected with a wave of her hand. "Those people with the Ouroboros, and the Philosopher's Stone...according the Führer, they were the cause of the unease in the military."

"Yup. But he wanted them captured," the younger Elric added.

"So, then, why was it necessary to slaughter them all?" Edwina tossed the polishing rag over her shoulder and sat down next to the armour girl, who replied. "He could have made them spit out their locations. And why would he come down in the first place, considering the amount of men and women he has to do so?"

"It's just not making any sense. But, I guess I'll stick with the military for now." She stood up again, the two deciding to head inside.

"We must find out more about the Philosopher's Stone," Alphonsa went on."

"Alright, since that's decided…I'm starving!"

Alphonsa mentally shook her head. _Way to kill the mood, Nee-san…but I suppose seeing a nice meal be enjoyed might cheer us up._

"Sen— I mean, Mrs. Cutris, is dinner ready?" Edwina asked as they walked through the back door into the kitchen.

"Be quiet! Come help me if you want to eat soon," Izumi told them.

* * *

For some people at Central Headquarters, it had been a rare day off. Hawkeye had wanted to spend some rare non-military quality time with Rebecca then Mustang, but the former was too far away and the latter had her off day before. It was rare any of them shared a day off. Dressed a simple light blue polo shirt, tan khakis, brown loafers and a tan, zip-up jacket, he was heading home after a rather disappointing day.

He sighed as he turned a corner, shifting the two paper bags again. "My first day off since I was transferred and I spend it buying groceries. I'm _such_ a fun person off-duty." Suddenly, Black Hayate stopped.

"Come on, boy," the blonde man said, but the dog ignored him to place his nose on the ground and sniff. He sniffed his way to a nearby alleyway, and at the entrance of which, raised his head and growled.

"What's wrong, boy?" Hawkeye asked, becoming as alert as him as he followed the dog to the alley. They were as much at risk as any lonesome woman. Black Hayate run into the shadows and the soldier slowly followed.

"Hey, get off me, you stupid mutt!" a slightly high, rough, and hollow voice suddenly cried.

As Hawkeye came closer he noticed his dog had his teeth clamped on a large piece of draped and wound cloth around a large figure. As soon as he saw glint of a blade in the moonlight, his instincts kicked in. He pulled his pistol out of his shoulder bag and fired. For a moment, the sniper was surprised by a loud _clang_ and a yelp as the bullet deeply dent metal and stayed there. He moved closer and saw the large figure was in fact a man in s suit of armour.

"How dare you so suddenly attack me, Barry the Chopper!" the man yelled as he tried to detangle himself from his cloak and stand up. Hawkeye responded by dropped his bags and another bullet. The man fall over again as the bullet penetrated his armour, and Black Hayate now become the one tangled.

Barry stood up again. "Unacceptable, you facing me and you're not shocked." He placed his hands on his skull-like helmet. "Look at this and scream like a little girl!"

For a moment, the soldier was shocked; his widened eyes showing it, but only because he never thought he would see another person like the young Elric. He fired another bullet, the vibrations of which caused the murderer to drop his helmet, and it landed behind him with a clatter.

"Aw, did you shoot again because you're scared?" Barry sneered.

"No," Hawkeye directly replied, lowering his gun slightly. "I know someone like you."

"Like this? That girl called Alphonsa…something?"

"You know Alphonsa?"

"Heh heh, so you're her friend, eh?"

"_Who are you? _How do you know Alphonsa?" the blonde said more forcefully, raising his gun again.

"You're cool, by the way. You ain't got qualms about killing."

"Don't change the subject. And I only kill those who deserve it…well, unless I'm being forced to kill an innocent…again…" he shook his head to clear away the memories. "Anyway, tell me what you know!"

It was no good. With a sigh, Hawkeye detangled Black Hayate, refilled and picked up his shopping bag, and set off.

"Hey! Where are you going? You can't just walk away!" Barry yelled after him, and started following him.

"I'm getting someone to deal with you," Hawkeye told him he headed toward the phone box he had passed. Hayate growled the whole way, nipped at Barry's heals. Reaching the box, the blonde soldier stepped inside and dialled. After waiting the few minutes it took for a normal-line call to be verified, he spoke his name and person of address.

"Well, hello, Lieutenant," the Colonel spoke with a smile as she dropped the file she had been reading. "Are you enjoying your day off?"

As he replied 'no', Barry, who had perked up upon hearing the State Alchemist's voice, tried squeeze his way into the booth but was too big.

"You know the Flame Alchemist Colonel?" he said in a positively giddy voice to the blonde. "Oh, what a strong woman! I'd love to cut her up!"

"Who's that?" Mustang asked in confusion, hearing the other voice but not fully catching what it was saying.

"That's why I'm calling. I—"

Without warning, Barry snatched the phone out of his grasp and cooed, "Oh, Flame Colonel, I love you! I want to cut out your firey heart and keep it forever!"

Mustang's eyes narrowed. "Well that isn't happening, whoever you are. And if you've done anything to my subordinate, I'll fry you until you're a pile of ashes."

"Oh, such spirit! Such protectiveness!"

Hawkeye snatched back the phone. "Look Colonel, just come here, please. The man you just heard, I caught him an alleyway, and I think he could be useful to us, so don't burn him right away. His name is Barry the Chopper."

_Barry the Chopper?_ the dark-haired soldier had heard that name before. "Oh, ok, I'll be right there. Where are you?"

After the location was set and everything sorted, Hawkeye took a seat on the pavement next to Barry.

"Oh, do you think I could dissect the Colonel once you're both done with me?" he asked, his voice still full of delight.

"Definitely not." He replied.

"Well, when we're done, I'm gonna ask anyway. Usually I don't ask, but for strong women like her, permission makes it a lot better!"

The sniper sighed. _Hurry, Colonel. I can't stand much more of this without putting another bullet in his head…_

* * *

**Author's Note: At first, when doing the Barry the Chopper scene, at first I wanted to change the person seeing from Rizo to Roya, with Hawkeye have had her walk Black Hayate while he went for food shopping, but then I realised it would be more funny or interesting if it happened this way.  
As you can tell, dear readers, this version of Barry rather fancies the Flame Alchemist. His own, weird, messed-up fancying, but fancying none the less.**

**It feels like this this one was uploaded rather later than the previous two. Is it?**

**It is a short note this time, so I hope you enjoyed the chapter, dear readers.**

**Thank you ^_^.**


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

_**The Serpent that Eats Its Own Tail**_

"Sorry for bothering you at this time, Colonel."

Mustang just stared at her lieutenant, and the man behind him, with a blank face. Before Hawkeye could continue, Barry pushed him to one side, grabbed one of the Colonel's hands and proclaimed. "It is so good to meet you, Flame Colonel! Of all the strong woman I've met and hacked up, you are the one I wanted to turn into art the most, as you are so famous in Central and East City!"

"Be quite, you!" The Lieutenant snapped, elbowing Barry in the face and pushing him back. Silently, the Colonel pulled on one of her gloves.

"Lieutenant, step aside. _The flame power is going to be extra strong._" A few minutes. That was it all it took for Mustang to hate this man.

"Calm down, Colonel," Hawkeye said in his most stern tone, though he knew he was being hypocritical. "Take some deep breaths."

The woman did so, and indeed she felt calmer. "Ok, I'm good. So, here's my first question, how can this be Barry the Chopper when he was supposed executed a few years ago?"

"He's like Alphonsa Elric, Ma'am. A bound soul, as you alchemists might say."

"Really?" the woman gasped. She used the phone booth to call Falman. If anyone would know about cases such as this, he and his photographic memory would. Like the Colonel, he had traded his all-day-long uniform for civilian attire. He had a black turtleneck, brown blazer, pale tailored trousers and loafers. She had a white shirt with the top button undone, with black, loose tailored trousers, braces and slip-on black shoes.

After the securing Barry with chains, taking him somewhere secluded, a local empty warehouse, and keeping Black Hayate busy with a chew toy, Falman crouched in front of the armour man to talk. All the while, Mustang and Hawkeye stood by and listened. Every time the Colonel's fist and teeth clenched, Hawkeye would give her a warning look.

"What about on May third of year nine?" Falman continued prodding.

"Reynolds. I killed him behind on of the bars of Fifth Street. It's not just women, ya know," Barry replied that annoyingly pride tone.

"August twenty-ninth of year ten?"

"Hendrick. He was complaining my meat tasted bad."

"Oh, January fifth of year eight?"

"Lenny and Cynthia, a young couple. That's the only time I killed two in one night."

"Hm…what about the night of March third in year eleven, with Gabrielle Robbs?"

"Huh? I killed Gabrielle on the thirteenth, not the third." His voice took on a nostalgic feel. "It was a clear and bright night, so it was so easy to do the dismembering."

"He didn't fall for the trick," Mustang noted.

"He might be the real thing for knowing this much," Falman replied.

"_The hell?!_" Barry screeched, to the pain of the soldiers' heads. "_You thought I was a fake?! How about I prove it to you by dismembering you nice and clean!_"

"No, you won't," Mustang told him seriously with her hands in her pockets. "I accept that you are the real thing."

"Aw, I was just kidding, Miss."

"Why are you, anyway? And why do have a body of an empty suit of armour?"

As he could raise his arm, he simply extended a questioning finger. "First I want to ask you a question."

"As long as it's nothing to do with cutting me up, I'll allow it."

"Ok. You're from the military, yet you don't know about other people other than that Elric girl who are turned into this?"

"No."

"You don't know anything about the fifth laboratory either?"

"A fifth one?"

"Well, Alphonsa and her sis came sneaking in one night. I fought Alphonsa. She's pretty strong, but not worthy of being cut up, mainly because she's like me and too young. I might be a killer, but anyone younger than eighteen? No way. The only way I could take her down was I got my cleaver…"

Mustang had stopped listening after the man had mentioned the Elrics. _Snuck in…the Major did say they were looking for some 'legendary object'._ Her eyes expanded in her understanding. _Of course! The Philosopher's Stone! I guess I'll leave my question for now._

"Barry," she sharply cut across the armour man's anecdote, her voice hinting anger as well as military sternness, as she withdrew one hand and balled it into a fist. "I need more _details_, not your stories."

Barry burst out with his sinister laugh. "Heh heh heh. If you don't rat me out to the people who did this to me, and promise not to just get rid of me, it's a deal.

With a knowingly dishonest smirk, the woman replied, "Very well, as long as you stop this stalker crush."

"Aw…alright."

Behind the Colonel's the Lieutenant's face became full of worry. Still, he reminded quiet and listened.

"So to sum up," Barry concluded fifteen-minutes later. "Incomplete Philosopher's Stones were being made in the Fifth Laboratory. The ingredients were living humans on death row at the nearby prison. And the laboratory was destroyed in our fight with the Elric sisters, so it's futile to go look for evidence. The end."

Mustang, now sitting on a crate as she took notes, muttered to herself: "The military's architecture and researchers were involved…so that means some high ranking officers were involved as well…two people named Lust and Envy are linked to the military…" She looked up at Barry. "What do Lust and Envy look like?"

Again the killer's voice became full of glee. "Lust has voluminous hair and well endowed. She looks soft, easy to chop." His voice swiftly lost the delight on the next sentence. "Envy, on the other hand, is rather bony and androgynous, looks too difficult to chop…plus, I like to know what someone's gender is before trying anything, as I have different ways for different people, and— what's wrong?"

Mustang had clamped a hand over her face, Hawkeye bore a rather irritated expression, and Falman rubbed the back of his neck in an awkward fashion.

"Never mind…" the dark-haired woman sighed. "Were those the ones who your soul?"

"No," Barry said, attempting to wave his hands. "That was the work of the researchers. _And_ the case were I was transmuted was a bit different." He managed to give his stomach a few knocks to emphasise his next point. "I was forcefully torn from my original body and put into this while still alive. Almost in sync, the Warrant Officer and Lieutenant folded their arms.

"That pain…it would have been less if you were just hang or even electrocuted," Falman commented, the two male officers unable to stop the emotion despite the man's criminal status. "Should we investigate the researchers? We might find out who ordered them to do this."

The dark-haired woman rubbed her chin in thought, but before she could speak Barry's sinister tone caught them off-guard. "_No can do._ These guys were used as ingredients for the stones, just a few days before the institute was destroyed. _None of them are alive. Absolutely no-one._"

Mustang huffed and frowned, placing her fist under her chin. "Using them as ingredients to seal their secrets. Pretty resourceful." She looked down at his notes again. "The Philosopher's Stone and an organisation involved with the military…" the woman's quickly changing tone, to that of something almost venomous, unnerved and worried the male soldiers. "Barry the Chopper. I have one more question for you…" she looked directly into his empty eyes. "_Were you the one who killed a Bridger General in a phone booth a little over a month ago?_"

Again the two male soldiers exchanged looks, but out of concern they may have to take action against their superior rather than for her.

"Was he chopped up?" Barry asked, rather obviously.

One of the women's eyebrows twitched. "No," the woman replied, her voice monotone and mouth in a frown as she began to stand up. "Never mind if you don't know anything." She turned to Falman. "Well, Warrant Officer, you can back home now." She turned her back to him to pick up her coat from the crate and put it on. "And please try to forget what you heard tonight. I know that's hard for you, but think of this a dangerous bridge, with the enemy on the other side. There is no need for you to cross it with me."

"True…" Falman mused, cupped his chin. "But as you said, my memory is too good. I can just choose to forget something." He gave an encouraging smile. "I've alright loaded my gun, so I'll follow you until the end. And besides, it's not very fair that the Lieutenant gets to follow and I don't. It's kind of prejudice."

"Well, I'm only allowing that is having another person know it would be helpful if something goes wrong."

"And I'm not as trustworthy as him? You're picking favourites?"

"No, I…it's just…" the woman looked at the blonde for help, but he just shook his head. She took another deep breath before she became flustered. "My apologies. Thank you for your help."

Behind them, Hawkeye also smiled.

Mustang then clamped a hand on Barry's shoulder. "Well, here is your first task. Keep this guy hidden."

The armour man's jaw dropped. "This wasn't in the deal we made! And even can't I stay with you, it'll be safer and I promise—"

"You don't get an opinion in this," she quickly retorted. "Keep him under guard in a place neither civilians nor military personal will see him." She withdrew her hand from on the man's shoulder and headed to the warehouse door. Hawkeye picked up his grocery bags again and followed, deciding he could walk with her a bit. Black Hayate knowingly trotted over to his owner, the toy in his mouth. "I have to go look something up, so I'll be at HQ almost all the time for the next few days. Oh, and I'll sign you for a holiday so take good care of yourself and Barry."

Falman just stared, his mouth hanging open as well. The Colonel and Lieutenant both gave a raised hand of goodbye.

"Oh, and Barry," Hawkeye said threateningly as he held open the door. "This man is another person you are to not chop up. Otherwise, you'll have my bullets and the Colonel's flames to try and dodge." They left.

"So, on a different note, how was your day off apart from this?" the Colonel asked, as she liked to walk and talk.

"Well, I _meant_ to talk a walk with Hayate, visit that nice coffee shop again, and maybe chat with Rebecca, after I had picked up some groceries. But the pantry was emptier than I thought so I ending spending the whole day food shopping,"

"Oh, that's unfortunate," Mustang replied. "I know people say this a lot, but there's always next time."

"Maybe not, with this business. What about you? Did you get your paperwork done without my supervision?"

The female soldier rubbed the back of her head nervously. "Uh…well…I _meant_ to, but then I got caught up looking through files of some Cadets training here, and well, like you, the day went by without me noticing."

This time, it was Hawkeye's eyes that narrowed. "I knew it. You do need me to keep you on track."

"I just hate paperwork, ok?! It's boring, meaningless, and stops me doing more important things. You take it way too seriously."

"Oh, I see…"

"Was that sarcasm?"

"Perhaps…"

"Stop that!"

"Alright."

"I'm still not convinced."

"Be not convinced then. I'm only teasing."

"I, ah…this is strange!"

* * *

Somewhere, deep beneath Central Headquarters, the Führer was on his way to make another report. As he arrived at his destination – a wide, dark room pull of pipes, it's only source of light a few windows near the ceiling – a semi-deep voice said, "Welcome back, Führer. How was the inspection of the south?"

As he replied, Bradley moved to the centre of the room, before a great throne of metal, and placed the tip of his sabre on the ground in front of him, holding the top. "It turned out to be pretty significant. The brother of the Fullmetal Alchemist, and maybe even their teacher, may be useful as sacrifices."

"Interesting…if they are suitable, that leaves just two more, and we all know who the fourth will be," the voice replied from the darkness replied.

"Oh, and there is one more thing…" the Führer began.

"You mean this?" the voice asked. There was a clinking of chains and from above their heads, a cross-shaped rock fell suspended. With blades piercing him, Greed's arms were now also chained.

"How nostalgic," the only present female remarked, folding her arms under her bosom. She stood in a patch of light, with a bored Envy and hungry Gluttony sitting on pipes on either side of her. "It's the one who fled here over a century ago. Wake up, Greed."

The male homunculus's eyes immediately opened. "Oh my…looks like everyone's here," he said as he looked around.

"Serves you right, _Ultimate Shield,_" Lust taunted, adding more mocking emphasis on the man's another name.

Greed grinned in response. "You're as hot as ever, _Ultimate Lance._ Or do you perfer Miss Lust?" He moved his head to look at each of the other homunculi in turn. "Gluttony, you haven't slimed down at all…Envy, still dressed in that weird fashion sense…" he moved his eyes to look for the last two members but they were not present. "Where's Sloth?"

Lust closed her eyes for a moment. "Where do you think? He's being as lazy as ever. He is still working."

And by 'working'_,_ Greed thought. "Youmean 'standing staring at the wall after only ten minutes of digging, saying it's tiresome, and thinking about whether he should resume?" Finally, he looked at Bradley. "And who's this guy?"

"I am Wrath," the Führer said in his most intimidating, yet still solemn tone. Greed felt a twinge of fear, something he had never felt before, and his widened eyes showing it.

"He's was a new brother created by father sixty years ago, as both a replacement for you and someone we could have working on the outside.

"So 'King Bradley' is his pseudonym, right?" Greed asked, his nervousness showing. "King Bradley, known for numerous battlefield glories, and rising up to be Führer at the age of forty…"

"Yes," Lust replied. "As a 'human' with the name 'King Bradley', he is our brother created to serve the last purpose."

"A homunculus that ages…there's really such a thing?" Greed asked.

At this, Envy cackled, briefly cutting the atmosphere, its trademark grins wide, before saying, "What was your old saying…? Oh yeah, 'there's no such thing as no such thing? It used to be your favourite saying. You forgotten it? Are you getting due to your age without us?"

"Shut the hell you ugly bitch!" Greed retorted the first thing that came into his head.

For a moment, Envy did not seem to notice the insult. Then its eyes enlarged for a moment in realisation. It stood up, hunched over with its arms dangling, its eyes narrowed, only half of its face visible. "Piece of _shit…_I'll _crush_ you..."

The younger homunculus had all his teeth visible. "Oh, I like those eyes. Lemme see your true self, 'monster envy'."

"_Stop it, all of you!_" the man on the pipe thrown commanded. Everyone immediately calmed down. The only parts of him that identified him as a man were the currents of long, light-golden-blonde hair on either side of his face, a strand falling across it, and a chin with a golden beard. "A conflict between siblings…do _not_ do that, especially before your father." All the homunculi fell silent, guilty looks on their faces. All expect one.

"Yo, Father sir," Greed greeted mockingly, his smirk ever wide. "You've aged quite a bit while I was gone? Worried about me, were you?"

The man closed the book he had been reading with snap and extended his right hand, showing the sleeve of a white robe. "My son, of which I share my soul, let me ask you one thing. _Why did you betray me?_"

Greed chuckled and closed his eyes. "Why? Shouldn't a father be the one who understands their children the most? You gave me life as 'Greed'. If I stayed by your side, my greed wouldn't be satisfied. That's enough of a reason."

Father placed his book down a piece of wood serving as a table and picked his glass of wine and calmly asked. "Would you work for me again?"

At once, the greedy homunculus was furious and flippant. "No freaking way!"

"I see…" Father reached back and pulled a lever. "I have no choice."

Several clogs near the throne began to crank into momentum. Greed looked down as two sliding, circular doors opened beneath him. Bradley did not even turn around. The slight feeling of fear crept in as steam rose from the bubbling substance within the circular. Boiling oil. Greed felt the fear melt, almost in the heat, as the cross was bound was slowly lowered.

"You got really bad taste, old man," He commented in an almost bored tone as the steam surrounded him. His feet dipped into the oil. He threw his head back with a cry of, "_AAAAARRRHHH!_" The other homunculi remained silent. However, they could not hide their shocked faces when the other being's scream turned in a manic cackle before becoming that fully-toothed grin.

"THIS TEMPROCURE IS JUST RIGHT, ARSEHOLES!" He yelled, his voice cracking from his suppression of the pain. "HELL'S FLAMES AIN'T AS LUKEWARM AS THIS! I'LL LOOK AT AHEAD OF YOU, DEAR SIBLINGS!"

"You are going where you were born, Greed," Father continued in the calm tone. "You are returning to my soul."

The oil had reached Greed's shoulders and he gave another cackle. "FINE BY ME! DON'T BLAME ME IF YOU GET _DIARRHEA!_" As the oil became to consume his head, Greed descended into cackles, which continued under the surface until nothing of him remained but thick red liquid. The oil and liquid was then drained into one of the many pipes, and pushed through a filter. Slowly, the separated red liquid dipped from a compressor into the glass the blonde man had set down. Once the glass was full, the man took it up in a toast.

"To your resolute loyality and respect," Father said before downing the glass in one gulp. All the homunculi smiled in acknowledgement. With everything seemingly sorted out, the Führer silently left. As he made his way along the corridor on the outside of Central Headquarters he heard the thumping of a child's feet and a happy call of "Papa!"

Turning around, he saw his daughter and wife coming towards him, the girl running up to him to embrace him. The girl, just past her tenth birthday, had his black hair, being straight and medium length, she wore it loose, along with a round face with a slightly pointed, chin, and deep purple-blue, almost black eyes. She was dressed in her school uniform – pale green blazer, white shirt, a black tie, a pleated, dark grey shirt and white ankle socks with still-shining black leather loafers. His wife was as elegant as ever, wearing a long-skirted suit and her dark brown, wavy hair in a graceful plait.

"Yes, I'm really home, Selima," Bradley told the child with a smile.

"How was the inspection of the south?" Selima asked in an exited tone.

"It was fun. I learnt some interesting things. I'll tell you over dinner."

"Aw, why not now?" the girl's face fell.

"We're in public, my girl. Don't want anyone to overhear us now, do we?"

"Ok!"

"Oh, honey, I do worry," Mrs. Bradley said as she came to a halt and clasped her hands. "You aren't young anymore. Why don't you give your seat to one of your successors, retire and take it easy?"

"No, no, there's still lots of things I must do first,"

The woman sighed. There was no convincing him no matter how she said it. With Selima taking one of her parent's hands in each of her own, the trio set off home.

"Oh, Selima, guess who I met in the south?" Bradley said suddenly as they walked along the quiet street.

"Who? Who?" the girl asked, her excitement levels raising again.

"The Fullmetal Alchemist."

His daughter gasped in delight. "Really? The tiny alchemist?"

Mrs. Bradley smiled. "You sure like hearing stories about Miss Elric, dear."

"Of course!" Selima proclaimed. "Isn't it cool to become a state alchemist at only twelve? I wonna learn alchemy too! I could become state-approved and become the youngest at eleven-years-old!"

"It takes far more than a year to learn. And just want would you use it for?"

"I would help father! I could become his assistant and bodyguard. You did say Papa is getting old."

Mrs. Bradley laughed again. "Oh, Selima, you can't do that. I wouldn't have you put your life on the line so much."

"But who's going to attack a child? It's perfect. I just step in front of him with a gun in my hand and the attacker would be shock, they'd drop their guard."

"There are people out there who harm children. I won't have it."

"Oh…ok…I guess I can find another way when I'm older…"

"Hopefully, your father will be retired by then."

"I don't know…he's so focused on his job…"

"We'll see..."

* * *

**Author's Note:**** There it is, dear readers, the genderbended homunculus was Pride. I wanted to genderbend at least one, as I think it is both sexist and unfair to have The Smurfette Principle in play again (like with Riza, and in this Roya, but that I can accept…because Roya is in charge) made all the worse by the only female villain being the first to die. ****I wanted to genderbend at least one, even though the gender ratio would still be massively male-dominant (but most of shonen or fiction in general, is that, and even real life in most masculine or leadership areas). ****Greed and Wrath were candidates too, but I thought the Greed-Ling thing could still work and well, Mustang would not have as much as desire to be Führer I think (she still would want what is best for the country, but also for other reason I cannot put my finger on). What do you think?**

**I hope you enjoyed it, anyway, even this was a short one.**

******Thank you ^_^.**


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

_**The Emissary from the East**_

Khayal the miner's son, a boy with brown hair and matching eyes, was making his way to fetch water. However, as he was walking along with his shoulder buckets, his mother appeared at the front door and called, "Khayal, wait!"

The boy stopped and turned around. "Yeah?"

"Your father forgot his lunch. Please bring it to him." She held out the cloth-wrapped tin.

"Ok…" leaving his buckets for the moment, the boy took it and made his towards the mines.

"Hey, Khayal," one of the men greeted as he passed the smelter. "You looking for your dad? He's in Mine Eight today."

"Argh," Khayal growled, frustrated. "That's the one all the way at the end!" A shortcut would be needed. He walked on a bit and leaped up onto a coal cart. As he stepped down, the boy felt on of his feet land on something hard that was covered in something soft. He would have thought nothing of it and continued on, but as his lifted his foot the thing gave a distinctly human groan. The miner boy cringed with a jump.

"Oh…I'm so sorry! I didn't see you there!" He saw it was another boy, with black hair pulled into a bun at the back of his head, and strange clothing. The only bit of clothing he recognised were the boy's similar slip-on shoes and while, button-up ankle wraps which held in trouser hems and overlapped the shoes.

"Excuse me…you there…" the other boy croaked weakly. "Where is this place?"

"Eh? This is Youswell Coal Mine," Khayal nervously answered. He also noticed a small black-and-white, cat-like creature lying next to the strange child.

"…In the country of Amestris?" the dark-haired boy continued.

"Uh, yeah. This town is on the Eastern end of Amestris. Khayal jumped again the boy's head shot up. He saw that he was around the same age as him, twelve at the oldest, ten at the youngest. He also noticed his somewhat pale skin, neat symmetrical fringe of three eyebrow-length locks on either of his middle-forehead, and large, round, slightly slanted dark blue eyes.

"So…I made it…" the stranger gasped. Suddenly, the boy sprang to his knees, wrapped his arms around the cat-like animal and burst into tears. _"_Hooray, Xiao-Mei! We finally reached Amestris!_ And we're alive!_"

"Um…" Khayal said, at a loss for words, while also not recognising the boy's accent. Suddenly, the other boy collapsed with a thud, flat on his face, making the young Amestrian jump for the third time. Dropping the lunchbox, Khayal lifted him and turned him over. He looked like he was on the brink of unconsciousness. "H-hey, don't die on me! Uh, here, have this," He put the boy down again and offered him the lunchbox. The boy's nose twitched. Khayal would have to explain to his mother, but he did not mind. Until the other child had the strength to do it himself, he feed him small pieces of the meal – a heart-shaped slice of roasted beef with fried vegetables. Eventually, The boy, sitting on his knees, finished the meal rather elegantly for his hunger (he certainly knew his table manners) and then pulled out a handkerchief, with an embroilment of the cat-creature in one corner, to wipe his mouth and then dust down his crumped clothes.

"I'm saved thanks to you, kind Amestrian," the dark-haired male said with an inclination of his head to the miner's son. "I'll call you my friend now."

"Well, thanks," Khayal said with a smile as he sat and watched the other child with his legs crossed. He was beginning to like this boy, as he was unlike other children their age. "And my name's Khayal, by the way."

"Oh, excuse my rudeness!" the newcomer cried. After another head-inclination, he placed a hand on his chest. "I'm Mao Chang." He indicated the animal clinging to his shoulder. "This is Xiao-Mei. We come from Xing."

"The country of Xing…that's…that's the one that's way east of here! All the way across the great desert!" Khayal stammered in disbelief.

"Yup," Mao answered with a chuckle, and (which Xiao-Mei mincing him as always) reached up to rub the back of his head in embarrassment. "I thought we were gonna die when we got caught in a sandstorm."

"Well, that does explain your clothes and name," the miner boy said, for some reason feeling relieved. "I can't believe I'm meeting a person from Xing!"

"Oh, would you like an explanation on my appearance and name? Something to share with your friends?" Mao asked.

"Sure."

"First of all, for men as well as women, long hair is praised. If you have long hair as a man, you are most likely someone of great power and influence." The boy pointed to his slightly-long-and-wide-sleeved oriental jacket, which was a light shade of blue with an inch-wide white trim on the sleeves. "This is a men's traditional jacket, adapted from the changshan of old, and these…" he pointed at his white, puffy trousers, which were pulled in at his ankles by tight hems. "Are the trousers that are worn with such a jacket." Next he indicated the piece of dark blue cloth he had wound around his waist and over his left shoulder. "This functions as a blanket if I have no-where to sleep. And this…" lastly, he indicated the lilac sash looped over his body diagonally, and also from his left shoulder. "This is very special. It indicates my rank within my clan and in Xing overall. It's not a good place, but at least it's something." He paused to stroke the sash, his face slightly sad, before returning to a smile. "And as for our names, mine means nothing special, but Xiao-Mei's, that means 'little sister', as that's what she is too me."

"I see," Khayal said, listening intently as he re-bundled the lunchbox. "So, why did come all the way here?"

"I'm looking for something, something important,"

Again, the miner boy was intrigued, and shuffled forward and leaned closer to the other boy so he could whisper, "What is it?"

The Xingese boy smiled and also leaned forwards. "A way to become immortal."

Khayal drew back. "Huh?"

Suddenly, there was a great rumbling noise behind the children, accompanied by a yell of "_NOOOO!_ EVERYONE MOVE, NOW!" which caused them and Xiao-Mei to jump. The brunette got up with an apology and headed towards the noise, but Mao followed him, curious. Xiao-Mei clung to her 'brother', ready.

"Mr. Bid, what happened?!" Khayal asked he came to a halt in front of the miners he had passed.

"Oh, Khayal, thank God you didn't go to Mine Eight," said man said through a sigh of relief, quickly deciding there was no time to ask about the stranger behind him. "There was a cave in! And we can't move the rocks!"

"Cave in…?" the brunette boy repeated. Dropping He turned around and started running at full pelt. "_Dad!_"

"Khayal!" Mr. Bid called hopelessly after him.

"Khayal-san!" Mao called with worry, following him.

As the duo reached the collapsed mine, their eyes widened in shock. It was worse than they had thought. The entrance had completely crumpled, the whole place nothing but a pile of still-falling wood and rock. The only recognisable thing was the crumpled '8' sign. Khayal didn't care, he rushed forward while the Mao hung back, thinking. "What do you think Xiao-Mei?" But the brunette did not get far. As he was about to leap off the broken railroad another miner grabbed him.

"Sorry, kiddo, but I can't let you go into there!"

"Why not!" the boy demanded, struggling.

"Well, if you used your eyes, you'd see it's still going down! You wonna die?"

"I can't just stand and watch!"

"You can pray!"

"That won't help!"

The two were interrupted by Mao, who calmly asked, "So, it's too dangerous to do anything by hand, you say?"

"Uh, yeah," the man replied, feeling awkward at the newcomer's presence.

"Then…" the young foreigner began, and also with that calm air, dropped some throwing knives from his sleeves (three in one hand, two in the other) which were decorated with dark-pink ribbons tied around their ends. "…It's all right if I don't go near it right?"

Khayal turned his head around to look back at his new friend. "Eh?"

The Xingese boy was drawing a symbol – a five-pointed star inside a circle, the knives marking the star edges – using a stick. The symbol was familiar.

From his other sleeve, the boy drew more another five, slightly smaller knives, which were also decorated. He threw at the collapsed mine, causing Khayal and the man restraining him had to jump aside to avoid being impaled. The knives became embedded within pieces of rubble, and Mao slammed his hands onto the symbol before him. The Youswell residents gasped a as blue light emanated and shielded their eyes from the symbol. A blue, lighting-like energy shot out from each knife in the rubble, joining together to display a brilliantly bright, much larger coy copy of the symbol on the floor.

The rubble began to move around, and in less than a minute - had reformed into the mine entrance, looking as if it had never been destroyed in the first case. The miners' eyes, along with those of the concerned observers, expanded in astonishment. They were even more bewildered when Halling, the head miner, stumbled out, supporting another man by his arm across his shoulder. Looking up at the entrance, he mused, "Hm. Strange. I guess the entrance hasn't collapsed yet." The gargantuan man looked over at his son. "Khayal, what happened? We heard a rumbling noise from outside." But neither he nor the man next to him could answer. They silently turned to the Xingese boy.

Mao smiled and giggled upon seeing their astounded expressions. "Please, don't be so alarmed. I had to do something as repayment for the meal Khayal-san gave me."

The man and the boy broke into a cheer. "Woooh!"

"Khayal, seriously, what is going on?" Halling asked again.

"Bring robes and ladders!" the miner beside the boy cried. Halling sighed. He supposed the explanation would come later. Once everyone was safe and, if necessary bandaged up, Khayal all the miners and their wives, along with their children, headed to the inn, which doubled as their home and was run by Halling's wife. After explaining the situation to his wife, she declared a celebration. In about half-an-hours' time tankards of beer were in every adult hand, snacks and a selection of juices for the children had been laid out on a table. The room was filled with the noise of yakking and cheering. One man in his joy had even painted a face on his stomach and was entertaining some of the youngest children with it.

As he sat at a table with Khayal and a plate of food, chatting, Mao could not help but blush, disbelieving that all this merriment was caused by him. Xiao-Mei had occupied herself with selecting snacks to nibble down. As he finished his glass of orange juice, another (thoroughly drunk) miner approached him with two tankards and offered him one. "Here, drink up. You deserve it after saving my life."

Before the boy could politely refuse, Halling's wife came past with a bowl of fruit.

"Mr. Cotta, don't give the kids alcohol," she scolded.

The man was too drunk to care, and returned to his own drink after the boy refused him. Meanwhile, two children were scowling at Xiao-Mei, who had chosen their milk and biscuits and her next meal.

"You know," Halling said as he took a seat next to Mao. "This is the second time an alchemist has saved us."

The boy was intrigued. "Hm? I'm not an alchemist. I practise Rentanjutsu not Renkinjutsu."

"Oh, I don't what that is, sorry. Anyway, a few months ago, these famous alchemists, the Elric sisters, came here. Us being able to live happily is all thanks to them."

"The older one was a damn good alchemist, even if we didn't like her at first," another very tall and muscular miner said, upon overhearing the conversation. "Her name's Edwina Elric, and she became the youngest State Alchemist at only twelve. Now she's fifteen, or sixteen, it's hard to tell with teenagers."

"She had golden hair in a braid, and eyes of the same colour, and had this…striking atmosphere around her," added Halling. "Her red jacket stood out too. The younger sister was interesting too. She dressed in this suit of armour and was polite, and feminine but just as strong…"

Mao had stopped listening. Inside his head, the words the men were saying were building up a picture of Edwina Elric. The boy clapped his hands on his cheeks. The words had formed a tall, slender, thoroughly endowed, vivacious young woman with a braid reaching her butt. He imaged her full lips forming into a graceful smile as she held a rose she had transmuted.

"Ummm…Mao? You alright?" Khayal asked after noticing his friend's trance. His words brought him back to reality.

"Can I meet this woman?!" Mao asked Halling with a voice full of excitement and anticipation.

"Well," Halling began, with his awkwardness being apparent through him rubbing the back of his head. "She's from the military, so you'll probably have to check all the Headquarters. I can give you a map—"

"I've decided!" the Xingese boy declared, his raising his fisted hands in front of his face. "I'll seek out Edwina-sama and learn the alchemy of this nation! I'll take that map, please!" Grabbing Xiao-Mei (who yelped with surprise) by her tiny paw and the offered map once Halling had fetched it, the young foreigner left, waving a cheery farewell and final thank you for the food to the blank-faced residents. Khayal caught up to him and escorted him to the train station and waved him off.

"Edwina-sama, here I come!" Mao said dreamingly, clutching his heart.

"Good luck!" Khayal called as the train chugged away. "Oh!" He suddenly thought as he walked back. "Dad forgot to tell him how short Edwina Elric is. Oh well, he's gonna be in for a shock."

* * *

The midday sun was at its peak as Winter put down the last of the boxes.

"Winter, dear," Garfied began as he fixed screws into a half-complete automail arm. "Change the disk for the grinder. After I've finished this we can take a break."

"Ok," the blonde replied. If he had been very busy before Garfied's apprenticeship, he was almost twice as much as he had been in Rizenbul. It was sweaty, tiring work, but worth it to see his customers smile, and he himself could not stop smiling, as the helping put him in a wonderful mood.

As he placed the box down, one of Winter's youngest customers trotted by with his mother.

"Hey, Tetsu," Winter greeted the boy as he wiped his brow and adjusted his bandana. "How's the new models working for you?"

"Great!" the boy replied, pausing to kick out each of his legs in turn. "No stiffness at all. I have to go school now, so I'll see you later, Mr. Winter!"

Winter waved him off. As he turned to walk back into the shop, he heard footsteps stop behind him, and a voice say. "Yo, Mr. Winter." He turned around.

"Isn't this fine weather enough to make you smile?" Edwina asked her friend, a big, nervous, concealing smile plastered on her face and a fan in her hand. Alphonsa was also wearing the same smile in her head.

"Ed! Al!" Winter greeted in delight after the initial surprise. "You never keep in touch. Why are you here so suddenly?"

"We wanted to see how you were doing. It's nice to see you prospering in your business," Edwina said brightly. "Oh, and…" still smiled, she pulled up the sleeve of her jacket, and Alphonsa helped by gesturing to the mostly-intact automail.

Still smiling, Winter stepped back a few paces and picked up his spanner. Meanwhile, dressed in dungarees, Paninya poked her upside-down head through the winder and said. "I've finished the roof repairs, Mr. Garfied. That's everything right?"

"Yes. Thank you, Bun-Bun," Garfied said with a smile.

The dark-skinned girl caught the noise from outside. "Sounds lively outside. Do we have a guest?"

"Yup. They're Winter's friends,"

"Oh!" Paninya said in happiness. "That'll mean Alphonsa and…" As she walked out, she saw the older Elric was on her knees, cradling her head while Alphonsa had her hands clamped to her face in worry. "…Edwina?"

"I only gave her a light one, this time, since it's only the arm and it's wasn't ruined beyond repair," Winter hissed, turned his still scowling face to the two.

"I think there's blood…" Garfied said quietly. The two helped the blonde female to her feet and took her inside. Alphonsa followed and took a seat with Paninya while Edwina and Winter went to the next room to so the boy could do repairs.

"So, you listened to Winter?" Alphonsa asked after the older female had finished her update.

"Yeah," the dark-skinned woman replied, tucking her legs in. Thanks to my light body weight, I can get work in both low and high places. It's been hard to get people to trust me, due to the things I've done, but I'm getting there. I'm earning enough to not starve to death, so I'm happy. Mr. Dominic is willing to accept payment for my automail bit by bit." The young woman put on a deep, gruff voice. "'If you insist I have no choice but to accept it, I guess. Just don't miss any'."

"Oh, that's good. You sure are on your way," the armour girl replied with another mental smile.

"What about you?" Paninya asked. "Made any process on your journey?"

"Umm…" the younger Elric began, and looked at her hand, as if it held the answer. "We found a little clue, I guess."

In the next room, after ten minutes or so of silence, they had begun their own conversation.

"You really are clueless," Winter chided after hearing the girl's latest excuse while shaking his head. "No matter how old you get, you won't listen to others."

"Speaking of which," Edwina quickly began. "How is your training going?"

Again, Winter's emotional state instantly changed at being able to speak of his passion. His eyes light up as he happily replied, "Yesterday I finished designing a machine gun that fits into an automail arm!" He grabbed the blueprint paper off the nearby desk and proudly showed it to her like a child would show a pasta picture to their parents. "Pretty cool, right? That'll keep criminals away!"

"…You sure you took the right kind of apprenticeship?" Edwina sarcastically but apprehensively asked.

Winter began wrapping temporary repair bandages around the arm, to cover and keep the exposed top wires in place. "What about you guys? Did you find anything out from your Sensei? Was she mad at you?"

"Of course she was mad, but she didn't do anything too serious, so don't worry. As for finding anything out…sort of. We're going to need to go the long way, but we're getting there."

"At least it's something. Just don't give up, ok? Especially after this caused you to break your automail _again_…"

"You know us. We're not going to give up. And will you please stop going through the 'broken automail' routine every time I come to you? It's almost like you care about it then me as a person…"

"I do care about you as a person! You just assume that every time I show my concern for you guys, I'm being sexist and thinking you got into trouble because you're girls and therefore more prone to it!" Winter snapped as he picked up his clipboard to mark down Edwina's name and payment.

"Then why do you sound so condescending and like a parent scolding his kids?!"

"You just _hear _it that way!"

In the next room, Alphonsa and Paninya giggled.

Again, Edwina sighed, and raised her free hand, again changing the subject before they fell out. "Anyway, We're planning to go to Central. I want to look something up at Central Headquarters."

"Central, eh? I wonna come with you," the young mechanic said, looking at the girl over the clipboard.

"Why?" the girl asked, secretly liking the fact that she could change her friend's mood to happiness in an instant.

Winter chuckled and pressed the clipboard to this chest. "I wonna go visit the Hughes. Especially Elicia. I've just been so busy since I came here that I've barely taken a break and I don't want to ask Mr. Garfied in case he doesn't like that kind of request."

"Oh, I don't mind that kind of request."

The two teenagers jumped. Mr. Garfied was in the room, collecting some more nails and pieces of metal.

"Oh, I'm sorry, dears, did I frighten you?" the man asked, turning away from the work bench with what he needed.

"How long have you been in here?" Edwina asked, feeling her body tense.

"Only a few minutes, which you two were arguing about caring. Bun-Bun and Knight Girl could hear you, you know."

"'Bun-Bun and Knight Girl'?" Edwina asked with a blank face.

Winter leaned forward, cupped his friend's ear and whispered, "Paninya, and Al, I'm assuming. He gives people nicknames or calls them 'dear' as is he thinks it makes him sound more friendly and welcoming. It works! Even after all the pain, most costumers go away with a smile on their face because of him. And I've found myself doing it as well."

"You deserve a rest," the flamboyant mechanic went on. "You've working almost nonstop since you came here."

"Thanks, Mr. Garfied!" Winter said, and gave a bow of gratitude before heading into the next door room.

"Al, I'm coming to Central with you," he informed the girl. "I'm going to visit the Hughes'."

"Yay," the Armour girl cheered with an inward beam. She raised her hands in fists. "It'll be good to see the Lieutenant Colonel. The Rizenbul Trio will be together again!"

The older teenagers stared.

"'Rizenbul Trio'…?" the older Elric repeated. She looked at Garfied accusingly. "Your behaviour is catching…"

"I'm glad it is," chirped the oblivious mechanic.

The blonde female frowned.

Winter was looking at his clipboard again. "I just need to pick up a few things then I'll get packed." He looked at the sisters. "You two will need to kill a couple of hours or so." Adjusting his headband once more and dusting off his gloves, Winter set off.

Edwina looked at her sister. "How are we going to kill some hours here? I guess we could go see if there's any more wrestling matches, but they never last long…and shopping isn't exactly my thing…"

The two jumped when Garfied dumbed a bag of nuts and bolts before them. "How about _I_ give you something to do?" He asked, twiddling with his braces. "I could use some he—"

The teenagers were out of the door and racing down the street in an instant, confusing and almost bowling over a browsing Winter in the process. "_We'll take a walk!_" Half an hour's walking later, Edwina was completely bored. They had spent some time watching matches (though much to her pride, people recognised but did not challenge the older Elric), and stopped so the older girl could buy a drink at a café (and to give Alphonsa her coat and jacket to carry again). As they walked down another shop-filled street, Edwina commented, her automail arm dangling in her tedium. "You know, even if I did like shopping, it'd still be boring, as it's only automail here." She glanced at the armour girl. "You seem to be enjoying yourself, though."

Indeed she was. She waved and greeted the people who did the same to her, looked around with interest and curiosity.

"Well, everyone now seems to think I have a full automail body," the younger girl responded, waving at anther amazed children-and-mechanic-group as they gasped and remarked the 'craftsmanship'. "I don't have to worry about being found out."

"I see. Well I…" at such a perfect time, a short, balding man with glasses and a moustache stepped out and approached her while his friends looked on.

"Excuse me, Miss," the man began in a kind tone. "I couldn't help but notice the sorry state of your arm. If you're looking for a good but cheap fix, come on inside and I'll have it done in no time."

Edwina switched her drink to her automail hand and used her flesh one to pluck the man off his feet (him giving a small yelp as she did so and his friends to back away a little) and dropped him behind her. "_I don't like how people keep targeting me._"

The small mechanic was now tucking at her top. "Please? I promise you I'm not one of those ones who overcharge. Those who overcharge don't remain in business long here. This is the Holy Land of Automail, and we don't like our name being tarnished."

Edwina noticed Alphonsa was no longer beside her, and looked around. She spotted her crouching in an alleyway a little way ahead, and walked up to her, thankfully leaving the begging mechanic behind.

"Al, what are you doing?" she asked the younger female.

"Um…Nee-san…" the girl began, looking back nervously.

"Oh…I remember, when you act like this, you're usually picking up a cat, aren't you?"

"Um…yes…most of the time…" Alphonsa shifted around on her hands and knees. Instead of a cat, the younger Elric held a motionless young woman. She bore pale skin, and medium-length black hair with a spiky fringe sloping to the right (slightly obscuring her right eye), pulled, with a white ribbon, into a ponytail that spiked at the ends. Her clothing was equality strange, being dulled with dust and rumples, a sword in the belt. They consisted of a yellow, cheongsam with white, flame-shamed trims on the gradually-widening, three-quarter-length sleeves and knee-length hem. The dress-like garment had a split running each side starting from her hips, showing the puff-legged white trousers and black martial arts shoes beneath. Her sword and forearms were also bound with what seemed to be bandages.

"A wanderer?" Edwina asked, crouching down to look at the girl more closely. "A _Xingese_ wanderer," Alphonsa emphasised.

"There's no way someone could have come from all the way across the desert on their own," the blonde said in an unimpressed tone. "She's properly some con artist looking for free stuff. Put her down and someone else can deal with her."

"But Nee-san, look at her!" Alphonsa cried. "She looks starved!"

"All part of the trick…" Edwina muttered, standing up.

"Well, con artist or not, I'm getting her some food!" the younger Elric snapped. "It's better than just assuming the worst of people!"

Edwina sighed. Again, she wondered just how her sister could be so naïve after all she had been through, but she had little choice but to follow her. When they had found a restaurant, Alphonsa managed to wake the girl by shaking her lightly. She could only groan and open her mouth to be fed and watered for the first twenty or minutes, before she could get up and eat on her own. And what a lot she ate. After polishing off an eighth bowl of stew, the girl finally spoke.

Her accent was strong, but not unintelligible, and her grasp of the Amestrian language was well.

"I'm revived!" she announced as she swallowed the last mouthful of onion gravy and wiped her mouth on her sleeve. She then gave a toothy grin to Alphonsa and the waiter in turn, before telling the man. "Please give your chef my thanks as well. You all saved my life." Edwina continued to sit, slouched and scowling with folded arms, in her chair, giving her drink the occasional sip. The other restaurateurs could only look on in amazement.

"This isn't a treat, though, Miss," Alphonsa said.

"Oh, don't mind such a small thing!" the woman said with a laugh and a wave of her hand. She clasped her hands for a moment. "To be cared for so nicely in a foreign nation…I'm so thankful."

"_Small…_" Edwina hissed.

"Nee-san…" Alphonsa hissed back. "Think…"

The older Elric did so, and managed to quell her anger just that once. "So, you really are a foreigner? From Xing?"

"Oh yes," the woman replied. "Didn't my appearance tip you off? Oh, and my name is Ling Yao." Even while conscious, the woman's eyes still appeared to be closed. The girls were now also able to notice her lean, mature, slightly-tall figure. "That dessert was hellish!"

Inwardly, Alphonsa gave a most uncharacteristically smug smirk, and nudged Edwina. "I told you…" she whispered.

"You got lucky," Edwina denied. "Hey, isn't Ling a guy's name?"

"Ah, a common misconception with Xingese names. Ling is unisex. Most names ending in 'ing' are unisex." The young woman was now sketching a diagram on the dusty ground as she spoke. "The journey would have easier, but the railway became buried in the sand and unstable," she drew a line from the picture of Xing to Amestris, and circulated the half-way point to demonstrate her point. "From there, I was temporally separated from my travelling companions. I had to swap to cannel back, then horseback. I just hope the poor horse I rode is ok. I was finally able to arrive in this country by cutting through the route of the Xerxes ruins.

"Surely, it would have been easier to take the sea route, as even though the trip is longer, the environment is less harsh."

"That's true," Ling responded, her nodding head causing her fringe to bounce. "But I also wanted to see the ruins."

"Xerxes, eh?" Edwina asked, now curious. Placing her chin in her automail hand she stated. "There's nothing there. Well, that's what the archaeologists, say, anyway."

"Yeah, there's a legend that the place 'crumpled to dust' in a single night," the armour girl added, raising her hand.

"From what I saw, it would really seem that was true," the girl replied.

"Wow…that's kind of scary…"

"So, you're a tourist?" Edwina asked.

Again, Ling waved her hand. "No, no. I came here to search from something. First off all, I want to study the Rentanjutsu of this country. Renkinjutsu or 'alchemy' I think it's called?"

"Yeah," Edwina replied. "My sister and I are both alchemists. But—"

"Excellent!" the Xingese girl quipped. "Then maybe you can help me with the other thing I am looking for."

"_Ok_," Edwina responded in a disgruntled tone. "But what's Rentanjutsu?"

Ling clicked her fingers. "Oh, right, I suppose you wouldn't know much about our one either. Well, you call it 'Alkestry', and it was developed for medical purposes. I heard it's specifically a scientific technique in this country, yes?"

"Yeah," Edwina confirmed, taking he stick from Ling. "I guess it just depends on the country. It's primarily used by the military here. She drew two semi-circles, one on the west, and one on the south, of the Amestris picture and filled in their names. "Right now, we're having non-stop border battles with Aerugo to the west and Creta to the south." She wrote another word above the Amestris image. "And then there's the Drochma Empire to the North. We have a non-trespassing agreement, but the situation could break out at any moment if it wasn't for the Briggs Mountains that separates us.

Ling folder her arms while her mouth forming into a grimace. "Such a scary country to live in.

"Well, we have had trouble within this country itself too." Edwina also frowned. "Alchemy's become so military-focused since King Bradley became Führer…"

"If this nation were more peaceful, maybe alchemy could involve into someone more human-beneficial, like in Xing," Alphonsa sadly mused.

"Probably," the blonde agreed.

"I'd sure like to know more about this medical-based alchemy, and then I could be both a fighter and a healer. They would balance out."

"And it would mean less trips to the hospital for me, as you could just heal me. And it could help our journey. "

"Oh, I just realised, we haven't introduced ourselves, Nee-san," Alphonsa said with a start, before pointing a thumb at herself. "Miss Yao, I'm Alphonsa Elric."

Edwina also jabbed a finger at herself. "And I'm Edwina Elric, State Alchemist. Al's the younger sister by the way."

After the initial raising of eyebrows at Alphonsa being the younger, the Xingese girl smiled. "Wow, you're state approved, Edwina-san? I'm so lucky to meet such knowledgeable people. And here was me thinking all State Alchemist were grizzled, grumpy, war-weary men!" Ling gasped both a hand from each sister on one of her and shook them. "Nice to meet you."

"You too," Edwina told her. "So, how about it, will you teach us about Alkestry in exchange for us teaching you about Alchemy? It'll be Equivalent Exchange, the most important part of alchemy here. In order to obtain, you must give something of equal value."

"Oh, I'd love to!" The Elrics began to smile in their gaining of progress. "But I'm not a practiser of Rentanjutsu." The girls' faces fell, and Edwina felt a flash of anger.

"Why do you want to learn about alchemy if you're not an alchemist?!" the older girl demanded, confused.

"I'm looking for something. Perhaps you've heard of it?" The girl leaned in closer to the Amestrians. "The Philosopher's Stone." She smirked at the surprised expressions that were the response, and leaned the side of her face on her chin, looking like a wolf that had just cornered a sheep. "I really need to get it."

After a few moments, Edwina stood up. "No. We haven't. If that's all you've got to say, we'll be leaving now."

Ling clicked her fingers again. "Just a moment."

All of a sudden, accompanied by the swish of clothing, two new presences landed behind the alchemists. A quick glance by showed them to be two people, dressed in black, hooded clothing with arm partially covering their bodies and masks covering their faces. However, one, the slightly shorter was still recognisable as an old man, moustached, but toned man. The old man had a sword through a gap in Alphonsa's armpit and the other, a slimmer, but just-as-toned figure, had what seemed to be a dagger at Edwina's throat.

"I think you two do know something," Ling told her trapped prey, still maintaining that smile which bore a hint of threat. "If you just tell me, nice and clearly, I'll order my, _friends_, here to release you."

"…What are you going to with the Stone?" the Fullmetal Alchemist asked, trying her best to ignore the blade and remain still.

Ling's expression became something of a cross between a smug grin and a smirk. "To find out how to become immortal."

* * *

**Author's Note: There we are, dear readers. That is all the gender-bended characters introduced. I am sorry if you are disappointed. I found it hard to describe the Xingese character's clothing, as I do not know all the names, and have never found when the name is for those white-and-black shoes no matter where I look, so I made something up. I also thought that, with Xing being mostly based on China but with a hint of Japan, I could use Japanese honorifics. Yes, I know I use 'Nee-san' instead of 'sister', the likes of which many are against in fanfictions, but I just felt it sounded better.**

**In the original FMA manga/2009 anime, AlMei was another pairing I hated (I dislike/hate/can't be bothered with canon pairings in general, and I am never that concerned with shipping anyway), as to me, it was again too typical, and contrived, and, like others, it just screamed 'paedophilia'. I suppose I could put more emphasis on Khayal and Mao's friendship to make up for it, but like EdWin, when you flip the genders, it just seems less typical and (Sorry for the double standard) 'wrong'. I still favour Winter x Paninya and AlWin (any gender-way), though.**

**Well, that was another long one (as in, the comment). I hope you enjoyed it, anyway, even this was a short one (though, no offence, but I really feel like interest and reviews for this have gone way, way down, but oh well, people have lives and nothing lasts forever).**

**Thank you ^_^.**

**PS: In case I don't get a chance to say so on the days, happy holidays!**


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

_**A Battle in Rush Valley**_

"First of all," Edwina began after a trice had passed. "Tell me why you want to seek immortality."

"Yeah, good point," Alphonsa spoke up before the dark-haired girl could reply. "We encountered some guys who were asking the same a little while back."

Edwina gave a sly grin. "Is this a new craze or something?"

"I seek it for family reasons," Ling replied plainly.

The blonde suppressed a laugh. She had an excuse. "That's so…stupid. Sorry, but we're not helping. Besides this isn't the kind of attitude or method to take if you want honest things…" yanking aside the knife arm, Edwina spun around on her heel to face her holder, and made to punch them - but could only look around in shock as they swiftly and gracefully flipped over her head. Their eyes met as the warrior was upside-down, and they threw the knife-like weapon. Edwina just barely dodged. Neither Alphonsa nor the old man moved. The man knew what would help; the girl deciding now was not the time. Sure enough, after a few more successful dodges, from the teenager, the younger Xingese fighter took her down with a kick to the head, before retrieving the fallen weapon, a kunai, and returning to their original position.

"Idiot commoner!" the old man snapped at the blonde. "The Young Mistress was asking you a question! Be aware of your position!"

"Please, don't insult my Nee-san like that," Alphonsa instructed him firmly. "She just has a bit of a temper."

"I can speak to her however I like! I have not been instructed otherwise!"

Alphonsa sighed. With a sharp yank of her own, she pulled the sword out of the man's grasp and tossed it aside. "We all need to just calm—"

"So you disobey as well!" the old man cried.

Alphonsa turned around to face him, in a readied pose. Her eyes widened. "Huh?" He was gone. Before the younger Elric could react, there was a sound of switching clothing around her, and for a moment, she saw the old man in front of her before he kicked her hard in the chin, knocking her onto her back on the ground with a loud _crash_. A few moments later, her sister joined her on the ground.

"Man, they've got moves like acrobats," the blonde growled in frustration.

"It seems like this is happening all the time now," the armour girl replied. "It's feels like it's been a good while since we won a fight, and frankly, while I will always try to sort things out without violence… I hate losing all the time!" the girl's voice rose sharply after the pause. She and the older teenager began to get back on their feet. They faced their opponents, who stood a few metres away.

"We do have one advantage," Edwina commented as she removed her jacket and tied it around her waist before stretching her arms once she stood again.

"They're weaker than Sensei!" the sisters said in unison.

The two sets of fighters charged at each other, Edwina taking on the younger, Alphonsa facing the old man. Within minutes, the battle was in the next street, dust flying everywhere.

"There they go," remarked Ling with a frown as she twitched with the handle of her sword, having been watching the whole exchange along with the other patrons. Several of those customers had wanted to step in, but feared implications of racism. "My, my, those two are hot-blooded. I guess I'll just have to wait for my retainers to return those girls to me. I'm too full to fight." She turned to the waiter. "Can I order a desert? You can put it on the tab of those sisters."

"Um…sure, what would you like?" the waiter asked nervously, he and everyone else stunned at girl's aggressive methods of getting information.

Meanwhile, Edwina and her opponent had found themselves fighting their way up the large piping that lined a metalwork factory on the edge of town. The dusty canyon and cliffs stretched out behind them. The alchemist had an idea. Quickly, she clambered to the roof of the building, turned around, and dove at the Xingese warrior, who was closely following. As she shot downwards, Edwina transmuted a pole from the pipes and aimed at the warrior. Initially surprised, the black-clad person was knocked off balance, but managed to recover in to block another two blows from the girl with one metal bracer as they both landed on the other side of the roof. As the blonde stuck out a fourth time, the warrior wrapped one of the strings the hung from their hood around the end of the pole. The alchemist's eyes widened for a moment of shock as her opponent tightened the string until the end of the pole was chopped off.

"Why you!" Edwina snapped and punched out. The warrior dodged and caught the extended arm between their ribs and arm.

_Damn…he's trying to break it!_ Edwina growled mentally as she felt the pressure. She fell backwards, again taking the black-clad fighter by surprise. Pulled the warrior over her she kicked him them off, making sure to hit that small bit of belly not protected by an armour vest. The girl sat up and rubbed her arm. _Close one._

She looked over at the warrior who had taken a new stance – side-on, legs apart and firmly planted, knees bent, left arm stretched out which the other held the kunai close to them.

_Shit…it's hard to fight someone constantly moving…_ Edwina though as she observed the fighter's swaying.

"Really!" she thought aloud as she stood. "Suddenly demanding information like that and then picking a fight with us!" Again, the warrior was taken aback, and loosened their stance a little. "What the hell is that squinty-eyed idiot's thinking?!"

For a moment, there was silence. Then the warrior took in all of what the girl just said. Their eyes narrowed. Edwina stared in confusion her opponent walked forward until they eye only about a metre apart and raised two pointing fingers to her eyes.

"Huh?" was her initial thought, and then the fighter jammed each of the fingers into her eyes. She yelled in pain and stumbled backwards momentarily blinded. Her opponent took the opportunity to grab her by the leg, but the teenager did not need sigh to know what to do next. She twisted around, throwing herself into the air a little and knocking the soldier to the ground, cause them to gasp in pain as the back of their head collided with the roof's tiled surface.

"Aiming for the critical spots, eh?" Edwina asked with a grin she blink back her site and the warrior dazedly and slowly sat up, rubbing the back of their head. "You really are weaker than my former Sensei!"

The Xingese fighter stood and looked at her, rage boiling beneath the still-calm expression. This girl was the rudest person they had ever met. Insulting them was one thing, but insulting the Young Mistress? Unforgiveable.

In another part of town (near Garfied's shop), Alphonsa was upside down. She had landed on her head after being thrown through a warehouse roof.

"For a man looking to be in his seventies, he sure is agile…" the girl said to herself. She heard someone land next to her as she turned herself over onto her front, and stuck a fighting pose until she heard, "Hey, Alphonsa, nice of you to drop in on my work."

"Oh, bunny, hey," Alphonsa greeted from her kneeling position.

"What are you doing here?" Paninya asked. "I just fixed that roof."

"It's a long story…"

There was another _crash_ as the old warrior jumped down with a cry behind them. The two teenagers just managed to dodge a swung from the man's blade, and raced out of the door.

"…I think I get what's going on," Paninya told her friend as the two of them turn their heads to see the fighter burst out of the door and give chase.

"Good, it saves me an explanation," the armour girl replied. "I'm glad you're here. I need a favour."

"You got it, but it'll cost you," the dark-skinned woman said.

"Put it to Nee-san." She whispered her request.

The two came to a halt.

"Hmph, you think by increasing your allies things will go your way?!" the grey-haired fighter roared. "You foolish _child_."

Paninya grinned as she kneeled down and pulled up one trouser leg. "You think you're so tough? Taste some Rush Valley steel and lead!" She popped off a panel on her leg. Up swung a rifle, which positioned itself at her kneecap. The grey-haired man stopped in his tracked, astonished. Paninya opened fire.

Back on the outskirts, the blonde had just dodged another kunai swing and elbowed them hard in the stomach. The warrior gasped for a second time as the air left their lungs and they stumbled back and fell into a crouching position.

"You really are not that tough," Edwina told her challenger with a knitted brow as she returned to a braced position. "With a subordinate like you, I guess that droopy-eyed girl isn't much of a threat."

This time, the retainer could not contain the rage. With a growl, they changed and aimed a high kick at the alchemist's head, but missed as the girl ducked.

_So you're not as robotic as you make out,_ Edwina though as she blocked another punch of rage with her automail arm and then a kick with her left leg. _He gets all hot-headed and blood-lusting if his mistress is insulted…his attacks became just straight-forward punches and kicks._ She grinned. "What's the matter? Did I speak the truth?" Another furious punched dodged with a duck. "Is she really so weak that she needs another weakling to protect her?" She grabbed the fighter's extended leg and used to pull them to the rooftop before hopping over them (dodging another punch) and backing up. She waiting until they stood before speeding forward, clapping her hands she did so (and was thankful her metal arm still functioned). "I'd like to see the face of the weakling who protects another weakling!" She could have just pulled the mask off, but wanting something more humiliating. She destroyed it with a blast, much the same as Scar did to his victims. However, the face she looked upon as the dust settled stopped her in her tracks. _He's so…young!_

It was not, as she had come to assume, some middle-aged man, but rather a boy, looking to be her age. And a rather handsome boy at that, with dark brown eyes, shoulder-length hair pulled back in a low ponytail, mostly covered with bandages, and a spiky fringe with two chin-length curtains on either side of his surprisingly soft-featured face. For a moment, the boy again staggered back, coughing out dust. Edwina almost felt bad another hitting and insulting him. Her distraction was enough for the boy to recover, and the softness seem to melt away he gave another snarl. The girl readied herself, but genuinely did not expect the boy's next move – he backed up, and from within his clothes, pulled out a small bomb and threw it. The girl yelped and covered her eyes as the flash consumed them both.

The old retainer just managed to dodge the hail of bullets the dark-haired girl sent at him. He run, the girls now the ones in pursuit. People cried out and fell over themselves to avoid the chaos. The man dodged the second wave of bullets by leaping up onto the "Rush Valley" sign and cling to it, looking around. He could not see his opponents anywhere.

"To have a canon built into a robotic limb…I can't take this country lightly," he warned himself. Suddenly, the armour girl appeared before him, closing in fast. "Flying?!" He did not see the crackling, alchemy-made block the younger Elric was standing on.

Alphonsa jumped and the old man readied himself, but the girl knocked aside his blade-arm (the sword fell), clapped her hands together and placed one on the sign and another on the man's face (knocking his mask off) to pin him. The sign crackled and formed metal robes to bind the man.

Down below, a watching Paninya cheered. "Yeah!"

"This is Rentanjutsu!" the old warrior cried, unable to move anything other than his dangling legs. "But you did it without a Transmutation Circle?"

The younger Elric was looking at her hands. "Ummm…it's stranger than I imagined. I guess it's like that for the first time." She turned away from the Xingese man to look around. "I wonder how Nee-san's doing."

She was not doing well. The teenage underling's face had returned to its soft normality, as he stood with his hand over his mouth at he looked at the rubble of the half-destroyed building. _I overdid it…_ The only thing visible his opponent was her metal arm, jutting hopelessly out of the rubble. _What should I do? I know this girl's an enemy but…_ He walked over to the rubble and grasped the cool hand. _The Young Mistress is going to scold me again for letting anger get the better— what?! _He pulled the hand, and the arm came out – but that was all there was. The boy give a yelp as something tightened around his middle, pinned his arms to his sides, before yanking him into the air. As he hung there, swaying gently, he looked up and saw that he was bond to a metal robe attached to a wooden, crane-like crank.

"Hey laddy," Edwina said. Walking forward and picking up her fallen arm. "What idiot uses bombs in a busy town?" She threw her arm over one shoulder. "_If it hadn't been me, you would have killed someone!_"

The dark-haired male's eyes swivelled to look at the wires dangling from the part of the limb that remained in place at her shoulder. "You broke your own arm…"

"An automail that does not move is dead weight." The older Elric could see the events of roughly twenty minutes replaying inside her head. The bomb had blown her just clear of the falling rubble. She had thrown out her metal arm to cushion her fall. Sometime snapped. _Damn_, she had thought, upon sitting up and seeing the arm was motionless once more. "I cut it off and used it as bait." She remembered a plan quickly forming, and she used alchemy to detach the arm and move the rubble around it. "I used to catch rabbits when I was a kid, so I figured it could work on a human too. It's an easy trap to make." She walked until she was right before the boy. "What should I do with you…"

"You can give…give me my mask back," the warrior stuttered.

"Eh?" the girl said. She noticed a faint redness across the boy's cheeks. He looked…flustered.

"My mask…" he went on. "Fix it and give it back!"

The girl gave her head a shake in dismissal. "You're not in the position to make demands."

A few minutes later, she noticed Alphonsa approaching, Paninya at her side and the de-masked, tied-up and gagged old retainer tucked under one arm.

"Nice one, Nee-san," the armour girl congratulated upon seeing the situation.

"I had to gag this one, as he wouldn't stop yelling."

"You too," Edwina said.

"Hey, I helped!" Paninya piped up, hands on her hips.

"Oh well, thanks," Edwina replied, before looking down at broken arm. "Winter might just kill me when he sees this. I've never broken it twice in such a short time."

"We'll just explain and hopefully he'll understand," the younger Elric replied as she placed the old man on the ground. The trio turned to the captured duo.

"What is your mistress thinking, trying to get immortality this way," Edwina asked rhetorically with another shake of her head. Before either replied, another voice spoke, making the three female teenagers jump. "Wow, you beat my bodyguards!" She walked over to the trio and jabbed a finger at two. "They really are hot-headed. I've told them several times not to let their tempers get the better of them, but they don't listen. I know they are meant to protect me, but really they take it too far sometimes." She patted the sword at her hip. "And it's not like I can't defend myself if needs be. It just helps to have someone watching my back."

Up on the crane, the boy bodyguard was beginning to sweat in nervousness. He was unmasked, in the presence of his mistress. He might as well be naked…

"You pick a fight with us, you get what you asked for," Edwina snapped.

"You guys are pretty hot-headed too."

"'You guys'?" the youngest teenager echoed. She turned to Paninya, a sad expression in her mind. "She thinks I'm some over-violent person like Nee-san…."

Paninya reached up and patted her on the chest. "Nothing wrong with a bit of violence every now and then to defend yourself. Strong women defend themselves. But I do see what you mean."

"I guess you're right…and I do like no relying on anyone. I just perfer to talk things out, that's all. It's much faster and no-one gets hurt."

"Maybe I should hire you guys as bodyguards, you being so strong. How about it? Join me and we'll find immortality together!"

"Go back to your own country!" The blonde retorted.

"I can't until I finish my—"

"There they are!"

The four turned around to see a crowd of people racing towards them over the rubble. All looked angry. A familiar site for the sisters.

"You guys destroyed a lot," a man said as they all came to a halt.

"You'll pay the fixing fee!" the short, moustached man from earlier demanded.

"And the cost of the meal," the chef added.

Hooking her automail onto her should, Edwina pointed at the dark-haired girl and replied, "Wait just a minute! The one who should be repaying the bill should be—"

"I dune understand thish country's langwage," Ling said in a clearly thickened Xingese accent. She turned and fled. "Bie-bie!"

"Hey!" the older Elric yelled after her.

"The other two are gone too!" Alphonsa cried upon seeing the empty ground and crane. The residents did not care. They just continued making demands.

"How am I supposed to fix things when I'm like this?!" the Fullmetal Alchemist eventually responded irately.

"I guess I'll have to do it," the armour girl said another sigh before clapping her hands together.

The older girl looked at her confusedly. "What? You can do alchemy without a circle now?"

"Yup."

"_Really? _That means…" In her head, the blonde imagined a see-saw on one side, her strengths, on the other, Alphonsa's strengths. On her side was fighting and alchemy technique, while her sister had fighting strength and her height, but with the addition of alchemy technique…Edwina slumped forward, her head bowed in shame. _Bested by my little sister again…_ She sat down, thinking and imaging.

"Feeling tired, Nee-san?" Alphonsa asked when she looked around to find her sister on the ground. She did not reply. "That's ok. You just rest and I'll take care of this." She began using her new alchemy to restore the destroyed building, it being a shop belonging to one of the men.

"We really are very sorry Young Mistress," the old Xingese warrior said again in his humblest tone from their observation position. The boy, named Lan Fan, stood slightly behind the sitting two, still remained silent, his cheeks still hinting red as he used his roll-neck collar to half-conceal his face. "Those two really are infuriating."

"It's alright, Fu," the yellow-and-white clad girl replied, sitting her chin in her hand again. "Besides, my fainting did lead me to meet interesting people, though I wouldn't really call them 'infuriating', more 'determined'."

The old man looked at her. "I should mention, the girl in the armour…I couldn't feel the flow of qi. How can a human being not have it?"

"Strange…" Ling mused, another frown of thought on her face. "But the smaller yet older one, she seems to know something more than the armoured one…"

"About immortality, you think?"

"Mm-hm. We'll just follow them, and see what we can learn. It will be faster that way."

Fu started. "But for the Young Mistress to bow down to these chumps, it's—"

"My honour doesn't matter right now," the girl replied in a severe voice. "It's nothing compared to the responsibility I'm holding. It's a small price to pay, obtaining something so important with my bow." She stood and turned around, looking at the canyons stretching out before her. She clenched her fists, her tone taking on that unyielding power a third time. "If it does not work, I guess we will have to use force again. I think we can get the upper hand if that happens, since we now know what we are up against." She turned back to her subordinates who turned around to face her, the older standing up. "Let's go." With a bow of respect, the bodyguards followed the teenager as she hopped off the wall and started walking. Her frown remained as she remembered something. _It cannot be just me who's noticed…there is something very ominous about this country…_

* * *

The Elrics and Paninya could not believe their eyes. There, in Garfied's shop, at a small table, the Xingese teenager sat with said shop owner.

"We meet again, Elric sisters," she greeted, raising her cup with that annoying smile on her face, as if their fight had not happened. Edwina responded by hitting her on the head with her automail before grabbing her by the collar.

"_Why the hell are you here?_" the blonde demanded to know, giving her a shake.

"Well, I fainted again, and the frankly rather beautiful man over there gave me a slice of cake and some lovely Amestrian tea."

"'Beautiful', you say?" Garfield cooed, clapping his hands to his cheeks. "Well, I do take time with my make up."

The armour girl felt rather awkward.

"Is it part of Xing's culture to faint all the time?" the older Elric continued. "Pay for the meal!"

"Come on, aren't we friends?" Ling continued in that cheery tone.

"_Who are you calling a friend?! _When we first met, maybe we could have been friends, but then _you attacked us._ And how could I trust someone with such squinty eyes?!"

Said eyes seem to open as the black-haired teenager scowled. "Hey, I'm sensitive about that! And I was born this way so don't be racist! And I apologised for my subordinates' actions!"

"Nee-san, you have strange eyes too," Alphonsa cut in. "I mean, you and I, when I was human, are the only people we know or have ever met who have golden-amber eyes."

"Don't turn this on me!" Edwina snapped.

"I don't really mind people with weird eyes," the automail mechanic said with a wave of his hand.

"You're missing the point, Mr. Garfied," Paninya told him as she stood next to him.

At the moment, Winter returned, a box of bolts and anther of metal plates under one arm and a length of wire hooked around his other shoulder. "I'm back!" Everyone looked around to see him.

_Well, heeello,_ Ling thought as she saw him.

"The main street's more busy and noisy than usual. Did something—" His eyes fell on Edwina. His jaw dropped.

"Ah, I know it's bad again, and so quickly, but I can explain!"

And she did, and so did Ling. And for once, Winter did not throw anything, but was still _very_ annoyed (and secretly worried). He did not realise it, but he had begun to rising himself to the frequent repairs.

"Wow! You sure came from far away! I never thought I'd ever meet someone from Xing or learn anything about it," Winter replied after the Xingese girl had finished her story, before taking another sip from his steaming tea cup. Paninya, Alphonsa and Garfied also sat at the table.

"Well, if other Amestrisian boys are as handsome and nice as you, I think I'll make regular visits when I return."

"Oh, stop it," the young mechanic replied, waving his hand, but was unable to stop his cheeks from reddening slightly. "Compliments don't work on me." Hid cheeks become a deeper shade when the girl reached over and grasped one of his hands with both of hers.

"Maybe I should look for a husband as well as complete my objective," Ling said with a slight smirk. "I mean, I probably will need to marry if I do complete it, and if so, damn it if I don't pick my husband. And a foreign one too…I can imagine my people's faces…"

Winter was now confused, while Edwina, who had been sitting in one corner of the room, a glare on her face (her arms would have also been folded, if she had two to do so). She could take it no longer.

"_Winter!_" She cried, springing up. "I need to get back to Central as soon as possible, so _please_ stop getting a girlfriend and fix my arm!"

Before the boy could reply the yellow-clad girl spoke. "'Central'? I'll come with you! I'll just get my underlings first."

"Go by yourself!" Edwina retorted.

"But I don't know this country, remember. I wouldn't know how to get there. Come on, I want us to be friends."

"And I don't want a sneaky little weirdo for a friend! Just go back home! You're not going to find what you're looking for here! Well, not without risking death!"

"Again I can't. Even if I need to put my life in danger, I _must _complete my objective."

Winter, Paninya and Alphonsa exchanged glances as the argument went on.

Out in the street, the girl's subordinates were searching for her.

"Young Mistress! Where are you?!" Fu called from atop a building as he looked around. "Really, she takes every opportunity to disappear if we don't keep an eye on her!"

Standing below him, Lan Fan had his fists raised and pressed together as he swayed slightly in a clearly worried pose as images flew through his head. "Wh-what will happen if she faints again…"

A slightly plump woman walking by give him an encouraging smile, assuming he was looking for a lost love (which was not far from the truth) even if she was put off by his and the old man's strange appearances.

* * *

Yoki sighed. Even with his hood up, the heat of the midday was still too much. They were travelling through the sandy canyons that surrounded Rush Valley, heading for Central. His horse was clear waning as well. After recovering from his beating, the only way he could escape was to put his few belongings on a small, wooden, mule-drawn cart and leave as quickly as possible. He looked back into the wagon, at Scar, who sat next to his single bag. The cracking noise of him fiddling with two pistachio shells was also getting to him.

"Scarred sir," he began nervously, wiping sweat off his brow as he looked back. "Can we rest in the shade a little while? Please?"

Scar clenched his fist, crushing the shells almost to dust. "Shut up and keep moving," he said in his unsympathetic tone. His sunglasses were hooked onto the bandages still binding his chest.

Yoki give a small yelp and turned his head back. A dog wandered by. _Man…why did I have to travel with a no-name psycho like him…_

"Neither you nor I could stay in that settlement. I would think your many punches, kicks, and pole-battering would have shown that."

Yoki squealed again. _Is he psychic? I knew Ishvalans were spiritual but…_

"Stop thinking stupid thoughts and _go forward,_" Scar commanded again.

Inside his head, Yoki raged. _Getting so cocky because you think you have a servant! You commoner! You no-freak!_

"By the way," Yoki spoke again, still feeling nervous, a little frightened, despite his anger. "It feels awkward calling you 'Scarred sir'. Can you tell me your name?"

Scar was fiddling with another two more discarded pistachio shells. "The people of Ishval…we proudly call ourselves by names given to them by God Himself, Ishvala.

The former military officer felt himself smiling at the sudden hint of nobility in this frightening man. "Then sir must have a wonderful name…"

"I forfeited it."

"Hm?" Yoki looked back again.

Scar crushed the shells again as he clenched his teeth. "I forfeited my name. _Now Go. Forward._"

"Ah, y-yes," Yoki whimpered, before giving the mule a gentle tap.

Scar looked at his tattoo. _I cannot turn back._ He spotted a sign point to Central in their direction and East City in the opposite, along with a rail track, which Yoki followed. _If I do, everything given to me by God…will be forfeited._

* * *

**Author's Note: Wow, I can't believe I've written almost thirty chapters of SFMA!**

When it came to the name, I debated between Ran Fan (the original Japanese spelling) and Lan Fan (the usually translated spelling), and eventually, I decided on 'Lan' as it is a male Chinese name (judging from fantasy book I have set in ancient China). Do you agree, dear readers?

It is just a short note this time, dear readers, so enjoy the chapter and review if you want.

Thank you ^_^.


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

_**Footsteps of a Fallen Comrade**_

Edwina tossed the mask to the young bodyguard. He did not know what to say. He could feel his blush deepening again, and not because of his mistress this time. It looked…amazing. Now, instead of just its simple black-and-white design with the Yang half of the Ying-Yang symbol, it looked like a dragon of legend: it now bore slanted, angry eyeholes, a moustache, sharp teeth with the bottom too canines jutting out, and finally, horns.

It had taken him and Fu a good ten minutes to realise they had walked right past the shop. Once they had realised their mistake, they burst in, ready to defend their charge (giving Winter quite a fright) – only to be scolded once again.

The blonde alchemist looked over at the silent male teenager.

"Well, you did seem really desperate to have it fixed," Edwina told him. She noticed the sweat on his forehead despite his turned back. _Is he moved by its beauty or something?_

Alphonsa walked over to look and gasped. "Why do Nee-san's transmutations always turn out like this?!" she wailed in despair.

"I think it looks good. It will make you look more intimidating," Ling said, walking over to her guard to look.

"It…it's too much…" Lan Fan stuttered, his blush deepening more. They were so close, never had he been his close to her unmasked. He subconsciously knew he should have gotten used to it by now, he _had_ known her since they were children after all, but it just would not go away.

The dark-haired female sighed. "Alright then." She turned to Edwina.

"Could you put it back to the way it was? Please?"

"After I went through the effort to make it look really good?" the Fullmetal Alchemist asked with her arms folded. She turned her head away. "No way!"

"I'll do it," the armour girl chipped in. "The old man seemed happy with his." It only had a crack, due to hitting the dusty, stone-hard ground, so was rather easy to fix. Regardless of doing it without him even asking, the younger Elric expected a 'thank you', but Fu was silent as ever. With a quick picture drawn by the Xingese girl as a guide, Alphonsa clapped her hands and in two alchemisations, the mask was restored to its originality and the girl in yellow-and-white tossed it to him.

"Alphonsa made it good, right?" Ling asked him.

"Nicely done," Garfied congratulated.

"You've improved, Al," Winter added while still sitting at the table, that gentle, encouraging smile on his face.

Lan Fan spoke up, the shyness gone again. "Just because you did this for me, that doesn't mean—"

"Say 'thank you' like you should," the Xingese girl commanded him, her tone bearing warning. The boy could not believe his ears. She then looked over at the still speechless old man. "You too, Fu."

Both retainers stood still and angry for a few moments more, but the threat of punishment was too much, and they caved.

They clasped their hands and bowed. "Thank…you…very…much…"

"It's nothing," Alphonsa said, raising her hands. "But I do hope that means we've made up."

"I'm not convinced…" the older Elric muttered.

Garfiel, Winter and Paninya just continued smiling.

An few hours later, with suitcases packed, and ripped clothing and broken automail restored, the Elric sisters, Winter, Ling, and her retainers all squeezed in the one compartment.

Paninya and Garfiel returned to the shop after waving goodbye, knowing they would miss Winter.

Edwina looked down at her (yet again) new, ready-made arm. "We were in a hurry and this had to happen again." She looked over at Lan Fan. "You really broke it good."

"I broke it?!" the dark-haired male cried. "You're the one who pulled it off!"

"You stopped it working in the first place!" the blonde retorted.

"It would have been better if it hadn't _been_ broken in the first place!" Winter cut in, from his position next to Edwina.

"Yeah, yeah," the alchemist folded her arms again.

"Hey, I did scold them," Ling said. "Oh, and the laddy is Lan Fan, as you heard, and the old geezer is Fu."  
_'Laddy?'_ Lan Fan repeated mentally.

'_Old Geezer'?_ Fu echoed in unison.

The young women could read them like a book, and replied with a dismissive wave, "Heh heh, just trying to sound more Amestrisian-causal and friendly."

"Speaking of which," Alphonsa began, her inner expression curious. "You having servants, only rich people can do that, from what I've seen. And if you are rich…why beg for food?!" Her voice momentarily rose on the last sentence.

"I'd rather travel on my own," Ling said, blatantly ignoring the question. "But it can be dangerous for a teenager to travel alone, so those two implored to accompany me. And I suppose having company is nice."

_Come to think of it, they're not here anymore… _the male blonde thought, looking over at the suddenly empty part of the opposing seat next to the receptively dark-haired and armoured girls. _Are they really so easily offen—_ _wait,' young teen?'_ He joined in with the surprised expressions of the young women as they spoke the same.

"How old are you?" the armour girl asked.

"Fifteen-years-old," the foreigner replied in a voice hinting pride.

Winter leaned to the right to cup the alchemist's ear. "You're almost sixteen, and she looks older. I thought she was seventeen or eighteen."

The blonde stood and beckoned to the black-haired girl. "Stand up."

Puzzled, said young woman stood. She was almost a whole head taller than the Amestrian and had a normal bust size as well. Edwina faltered, her teeth and fists clenched in exasperation. When was that growth spurt coming?

"This just doesn't make sense…" Edwina growled to no-one in particular. "How can someone weak enough to faint a lot still have the ability to grow at a normal rate?!" She leaped back (the small space causing her to fall over), while Alphonsa and Winter jumped in shock, as a kunai punctured the ceiling. The older Elric's fall caused it to land in-between her legs.

"Do _not_ talk about the Young Mistress like that!" Lan Fan yelled down through the hole. Sitting near him, Fu rolled his eyes. _At least I managed to just about keep calm this time._

"Lan Fan…" the Young Mistress warned again, picking up the kunai and holding it up for the boy's arm to come down and take, making sure to look at him with a face as foreboding as her voice.

"Apologies, My Lady!" the Xingese boy replied quickly.

"On the other hand, well done Fu. Especially with you being worse."

The anger boiled up; even as he knew his boss had a point.

"They're riding on top?" Alphonsa questioned. "How are they holding on?"

"Are they okay?!" Winter asked with his hands clasped in concern as his mind's eye conquered up images of various forms of train-related death.

"They're getting a free ride," Edwina commented, now back in her seat and quietly happy that the conversation had gone in a different direction. "If they're caught, you'll be flung off too, Ling." She felt strange about called the other girl by her name, but it was better than dodging being stabbed each time she addressed her as 'Squint eyes' or made a seemingly offensive comment.

The warriors did find it offensive that she addressed the Mistress by name, but both decided that, were they to attack over that, goodness knows what she would do.

"You really think they'll be caught that easily? Even after they hid so well from you, Edwina?" Ling laughed. "They are masters of the art of stealth." She looked at Winter and smiled before saying, "But thank _you_ for the worry. You are so caring, Winter-san." She graced him with a small bow.

Winter felt his cheeks heat up as his face spread into a small smile. "Well…um…thanks…"

The Fullmetal Alchemist rolled her eyes this time, her arms folded again. _God, he's sappy._

_Aw, I bet Nee-san is jealous,_ Alphonsa thought with a sideways glance and a devious smile in her mind.

* * *

The Second Lieutenant closed the door of the carriage with his foot as one hand was full of the basket of food he carried and the other held his cigarette. Walking over to the address, he gave the secret knock.

"It's me, Havoc," he said upon hearing footsteps approach. "The Colonel sent me to check up on you."

Falman opened the door and beckoned him in. "Come in, then."

The higher-ranked soldier noted the exhaustion on his friend's face as he held up the basket. "This is a visiting gift from the Colonel."

"Well, tell her thanks, but couldn't she have come herself?" Falman asked as he took the gift.

"The First Lieutenant has her catching up on the paperwork she missed while he was off," Havoc replied after another puff. "And no-one wants to be near her when she has to do that, so I'm kind of happy to be sent on an errant this time. I mean, that sharpshooter sure knows how to get her to do disliked but necessary things which still being the loyal subordinate. Anyway, how's things with you?"

"Terrible," the Warrant Officer replied as he opened the door to the living room. "Can't wait to get back to my real job."

"Hey, tobacco dude!" Barry greeted from his seat on the couch, his armed folded in previous frustration.

The smoker looked down with a smirk at the chess board on the coffee table before the armour man. "Have you even won once?"

"Nah, can't win at all. This guy's a pro," the serial killer said in disappointment. "Even with this guy the Flame Colonel gave me, I'm still bored as hell. Can't I even chop up just one person a week?"

Under the fruit and wine, Falman had discovered a gun and ammo nestled at the bottom of the basket. _Is she planning something?_

"Hell no, psycho," Havoc replied strictly.

"How's the situation with the Colonel?" the Warrant Officer cut in as he loaded the gun. He honestly thought about using it on himself and framing Barry.

"Dunno," the Second Lieutenant replied without turned around, moving one of the chess pieces.

"What do you mean, 'dunno'?" Falman snapped as he placed the gun in back of his trousers and used his top to conceal it.

"She's been intensely searching some documents, but I dunno anything because can't help with anything. She's content to do it on her own." Havoc, one hand now in his pocket, took another puff of the cigarette, aiming the outgoing breath in Barry's face.

"Hey! Whacha doing?" the man responded, irritated.

"How long am I going to have to keep this guy, eh?" Falman continued, one hand on his hip and other raised in question. "Isn't they any good news for me?"

"Good news…oh, I forgot to mention it…but it is one!" The Second Lieutenant gave a wink as he replied.

The Warrant officer perked up.

Havoc spread out his arms in joy. "I got a new girlfriend!" he clasped his hands by his face. "She's a super babe! She's been helping me since I moved her. Even helped carry the heaviest boxes!"

"It would be fun to cut her up!" the serial killer told him, but was ignored.

"Just leave…" the Warrant Officer said, feeling close to tears.

At the HQ, the Colonel was not the only one busy with documents. Sciezka was making her way through the main hall, her arms full of a book pile. The business of the job was keeping her mind active and searching, and she liked greatly enjoyed it, even if she still missed her cruel yet kind boss…

"Sciezka, Sciezka!"

The bespectacled woman turned around to see a black-haired assistant officer briskly walk to her.

"You were working in the third document shortage, right?" he asked. "Do you still have the key?"

"Um, yes…" she began, reaching for it, but stopped. "Oh, the _third_ storage room?" She felt the nerves creeping in. "You can't use it just yet! You see…I…um…I made quite a mess while using it, so you'll need to wait until I tidy it up…"

The 1st class private smiled. "It's alright. I can tidy away the stuff that's in my way. I just need to get one thing after—"

Sciezka placed her books on the floor, then her hands on his shoulders and shook him. "It's a mess unlike anything you've ever seen! And I lived in a house overflowing with books!"

The equal-ranked man shook his head in defeat. "Well, if it's really that bad, I'll come back later."

"A few hours will do. Um, thank you!"

The man walked away. Once he was around the corner, she sighed in relief. "Phew…"

She made her way to storage room and glanced in. "Um…Colonel?" She walked further into the dark room. Lying in a nest of books, documents, and papers, one over her face, the Flame Colonel was snoring lightly.

"Colonel Mustang!" Sciezka hissed into her ear.

"Hm?" the dark-haired opened her eyes, for a moment, she was confused by the first sight which met her, before pulled the book off her and closing it.

"Did I fall asleep?" she asked the younger woman. "Damn."

"You've only been out about ten minutes," the brown-haired Private informed her after a glance at the wall clock. "Though I really think you should take a rest. Especially before someone starts getting suspicious or worried, like Captain Fokker, for example."

The older woman stood up and also checked the time using her silver pocket watch. "Not much time left until the meeting." She tiredly walked out of the door and headed down the corridor, rubbing the back of her neck as she did so.

"Ok. Good luck!" the brunette called after her. "Take a nap afterwards!"

The Flame Alchemist waved in acknowledgement.

"Was that Colonel Mustang?"

Sciezka jumped with a yelp and turned around. "Good - good morning Captain Fokker!" she said trying to hide the returning nerves with her most innocent smile but only managing a grimace.

"Good morning, Sciezka," the dark-skinned, bespectacled soldier replied, his voice showing no suspicion. "Why was the Flame Alchemist here?"

"Um - ah - that…" Sciezka stammered, waving her hands as if she could bat away the truth.

Fokker looked at the open door behind her. "I'm guessing the Colonel wanted access? You're not supposed to open it to anyone without written permission."

The woman bowed deeply. "I'm so sorry!" She then straightened up, her face as apologetic as her voice. "Am - am I fired?"

The woman was confused when the man's face broke into an assumed smile. "The Colonel forced you to, didn't she?" He asked rhetorically. "I mean, for all your meekness, I know there's a strong woman in there, and the Colonel can make the most frightening threats…" Sciezka stool, tense, waiting for his next words. "I'll keep my mouth shut."

The mousy woman clasped her hands in relief. "Thank you so much!"

"But what was the Colonel looking for?" He had spotted the pile of books, papers and documents.

"I don't specifically, but…" She supposed there was no harm in telling him now that she knew he would not report it. "There was the Central Penitentiary Execution List…cases of incidents regarding higher military ranks…oh, and State Alchemist cases…" She counted the things off on her fingers. "…and the case of Brigadier General Hughes."

Fokker frowned and started at the last one.

"Uh, well, she just seemed so desperate, so…" she brought her hands together to twiddle her thumbs as she looked at the floor after noting her new superior's reaction.

"Hmmm…" Fokker mussed, rubbing his chin.

"The same calibre of pistol the military uses was used to kill Brigadier General Hughes, right?" Sciezka prodded, now sure there was no longer any threat to herself or her job. "The murderer could be a member of the military. I mean, he was a considerate man…there have been cases of people killing due to jealousy of another's love and status…what if this person targets another good soldier?"

Fokker placed a hand on her shoulder with a kind smile. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure it doesn't concern you. Well, there are tons of work for me to do…I'll leave you to tidy up and get on with your own."

He began walking away and Sciezka returned inside the storage with anther relieved sigh. However, as they turned the corner and started down the next hall, they saw someone he had hoped to avoid – the real Captain Fokker. However, they remained calm and, with a quick crackle, transformed into a blonde soldier who had passed by during the conversation with Sciezka. The bespectacled was too busy looking through some papers to notice the crackle of energy. The shapeshifter smirked behind his back.

Still oblivious, the man spotted Sciezka with a pile of picked-up book in her arms.

"Good morning, Sciezka," he greeted as he leaned in with a wave.

"Huh?" the woman replied. _Is this part a 'not telling' act like when someone pretends an event never happened?_

Fokker moved closer with a laugh. "Maybe you didn't hear me behind all those books. I was just saying 'good morning'.

_It must be an act._ She turned to him with an obviously fake smile. "Good morning, sir."

In the ladies' bathroom on the next floor, Mustang was washing her face and trying to take away as much of the tired look about her. After a final splash of cold water, she took one of the towels and dried herself off before running her fingers through her hair to neaten it as best she could. As she did so, she examined her face in the mirror. Almost three days of no sleep had left her pale, with dark patches under her eyes.

_I'm so glad the Lieutenant can't see me right now…_ She found herself thinking. _He'd be so worried he'd probably try to order me to rest…I guess I could take a nap after the meeting…_

She rolled down the sleeves of her shirt, buttoned the cuffs and put her jacket back on. After making sure everything was straightened, she left. However, as she turned to go down the corridor she bumped into something.

"Urgh…am I really so tired that I can't even look where I'm—" the 'something' she had walked into was the impossibly tall Strong-Arm Alchemist. "Major?"

"Hello, Colonel," Armstrong greeted with his pleasant smile.

"Were you…were you waiting specifically for me to come out?"

The man was taken aback. "No…"

The Flame Alchemist sighed, and folder her arms. "You really are a bad liar, Major."

Armstrong sighed in defeat. "I saw you go in and I thought we could talk."

"Walk with me then."

The two set off, Armstrong placing his hands behind his back. Luckily the corridor was currently empty.

"I don't mean to be rude, Colonel, but have you lost weight? You look exhausted."

"Yeah…" She told him. "I've just been so busy with researching something latterly…"

"Hughes' death?" Armstrong said in a voice which indicated he already knew the answer.

"You're injured?" The dark-haired woman said quickly, eyes spotting the bandage around the man's head.

"I had to fight a little in the south…it's no more than a scratch. Oh, and while I was there, I ran into the Elric Sisters. Edwina was here to hand in her assessment."

"I see…" the woman said plainly. _Late as usual…_ Though she knew she had bigger concerns at the moment. "So, Fullmetal's continuing being a Milltary dog…She is soon sixteen as I recall. She could be sent into the battlefield as soon as that happens. To return to their original bodies or fight in a war first…"

In unison, the two remembered those days of Civil War.

_Armstrong was kneeling on the ground, tears pouring from his eyes. "Why?! Why must we continue fights like this?!"_ _he wailed. In his arms was an Ishvalan child of only seven years old, his life fading fast as blood oozed from the bullet-hole in his chest._

"_Because…" began Kimblee in an uncaring tone, the Red Lotus Alchemist, a slender man with ponytailed black hair. "It's the job of a State Alchemist." His fingers twitched, one running over one of the Circles on his hand._

_Mustang and Captain Maes Hughes, a man she had befriended at the academy, sat together with cups of tea in a rare moment of respite._

"_Armstrong can't cope with the military's orders," she told him. "He will be returned to Central soon."_

"_Heh, Chickening out is the easily way to avoid staying on this rotten battlefield. Well, other than being in a body bag."_

_The two looked over at Armstrong, whose eyes were wide as saucers as he rocked back and forth where he sat, his hands clamped over his ears. _

"_It's shellshock," Mustang said, almost sad. "''Mental capitates deteriorate and paralyse of the mind occurs as one repeatedly experiences the bullets whizz by and the explosive fires'."_

_Hidden under a blanket on a rooftop, Hawkeye, the youngest soldier in Mustang's group, looked through the scope of his riffle at his new superior and her friend as they paroled the area, ready to defend them._

"_Guns are good…" he found himself thinking aloud. "Unlike knives or swords, there won't be any bitter sensation of seeing someone die…"_

_He did not know that his new superior had noticed the pain beneath his serious expression._

"To throw youth into a place like that…how could anyone think of doing that?" Armstrong asked.

They turned a corner as the dark-haired soldier responded, "Fullmetal became part of the Milltary knowing she would be used as human weapon. Unfortunately, child or adult, there is no expectation."

"Is that…your official stance?"

The woman closed her eyes, her hands now in her pockets. "As we know, you have defied the Milltary once already, and while I would like to do so sometimes…I would rather have my strength used to protect the weak and vulnerable of this nation."

"But has this nation changed for the better after that war? Only those who understand the horrors of war yet still calmly aim for the top can accomplish that…_Colonel Mustang_." The Major empathized the woman's name.

"What are you talking about?"

Now at the end of the corridor, Armstrong turned to head in the opposite direction from the woman, up the down the stairs. "I should be going. I think I've been too chatty."

He began to walk away, but the woman stopped him with a low, yet commanding call of: "Major."

The Strong-Arm Alchemist looked back. The Colonel was not looking at him

"Did you inform the sisters of Hughes' death?"

He could feel the rage beneath the frown. His heart went out to her. "….No. I could not say it."

"They will find out eventually. The fifth laboratory and the Philosopher's Stone. Live humans as recipes. Hughes loved helping others, and he found out something significant after poking his head into the Elric sisters' business…they will be very hurt when they find out his helping of them lead to his death."

"You have found out a lot yourself," Armstrong said in a concerned manner. "I know Hughes was your best friend, but I don't want you joining him."

The Major felt the woman momentarily break into a smile. "You really are one of the nicest people I know, Major."

The two started off walking again.

"Just be careful, Colonel Mustang," Armstrong called after her. "You don't know what might be listening."

At that moment, the blonde-haired soldier had reached his destination - the underground Central base, in the chimera room, Lust, using Gluttony's back as a chair, listened with her arms folded as the false officer finished his report.

"I figured that Colonel Mustang would sniff around about Hughes's death, but I didn't think it would be so soon," Lust said with a frown once he was done.

"Yeah, it just seems so sudden," Envy replied, changing back into its favoured, wispy-haired form with one hand on its hip.

"Did she find anything definite?" Lust asked. Gluttony had now completely lost interest, and was occupying himself with feeding the chimera in the cage in front of him while eating some of it himself.

"I don't think so, but she probably knows a lot."

Lust folded her arms in frustration. "We moved her to Central so we could keep an eye on her…guess that didn't work. I thought she'd be too busy crying over her best friend's death to investigate. What troublesome behaviour. She is an important sacrifice after all."

"Have you found anything from your source?" Envy asked.

"Nothing at all. I don't know if he's not telling me or really doesn't know anything…" She stood up. "I'll try to collect some information again today. Come on, Gluttony."

Obedient as always, Gluttony stood up and turned around, ready to follow.

"Hey, Gluttony!" the fourth older homunculus snapped upon seeing the pile of bones left behind. "Don't leave a mess! Clean it up. You know Father likes a clean home." And just like that, a plan began to form. "Hey, Lust, none of us wants the Flame Alchemist investigating the Brigadier General's death, do we? And you want to something other than getting information out of your source, right?"

The wavy-haired woman looked back. "You have an idea?" She noted that familiarly, sadistic smirk.

"We have to feed a noisy dog."

* * *

The only responses Maria Ross could think of to the current situation were confusion and perhaps a little suspicion. One minute, she had been happily chatting to her good friend over their lunchtime tea, the next, an unfamiliar soldier, bespectacled and stern, and flanked on either side by a police officer, had approached her table with a commanding saying of "Second Lieutenant Ross."

She looked up at him, spotting the armband around one arm that displayed his high rank. "Yes?" Her friend said nothing.

"I am Henry Douglas of the Milltary Affair Headquarters."

"Sir," the woman with boyish hair replied, feeling it was the respectful thing to do. "What do you want from me?"

The police officers stepped forward. "You will come with us."

Ross's eyes narrowed and she stood up with her hands on the table. Several other men and women around her looked over. One police officer approached her and extended his hand. "Your gun, please."

The woman did not move. "Why?"

"Maria…just say as they say. You'll get in trouble," her friend warned.

Holding it by the barrel, she handed the gun to the black-uniformed man. "Would you please explain to me why this is happening?" Ross addressed Douglas.

"You are a prime suspect in the murder of Maes Hughes," the man replied simply, as if she should have known.

Several gasps arose.

"_What kind of rubbish is that?!_" the Lieutenant exclaimed.

"We'll listen to your explanation later," the man responded calmly. "Do not resist and come with us."

Ross clenched her teeth, fighting the urge to say more. None the less she followed, but kept her expression unrelenting.

In another street, Havoc had finally left Falman after his long rant, remembering that the woman he had been ranting on about had asked him to meet her in a café for another date.

"On another date?" the old flower woman asked as she wrapped bouquet. "I hope this one's a keeper. Better not act be a pervert again if you want her to stay."

"Eheheh," the smoker laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "Could you add a ribbon tied a bow?"

"Of course." She did so. "Good luck."

Havoc paid the extra two cents and set off for the café. As he approached it, he discretely dropped and snuffed out his latest cigarette with his foot. Most women were put off by smoking. He looked around at the outdoor tables for a few minutes, and finally spotted the woman, quietly reading, her black, wavy hair pulled over one shoulder and secured with a bobble.

"Solaris!" he waved to her as he approached. "Sorry I'm late."

Lust, her homunculus features of red nodules and Ouroboros hidden behind a long jacket, smiled as Havoc sat down opposite her. "Have you been waiting long?"

"No. I just came." the woman replied. "I wanted to see you again, Jean. I want to hear more interesting stories."

"Well, I have a few more," the Second Lieutenant responded, rubbing his chin as he thought. Perhaps it was lucky he did not know them all – Ross was being led down into the basement, her face still defiant; Mustang sat in the meeting, next to a General. Listening and waiting; and the Fullmetal Alchemist's group were getting off the train that has just arrived in Central. Ling and Lan Fan looking around in curiosity while Fu still did not say a word (though he still looked around).

* * *

**Author's Note: Wow, I can't believe I have actually written thirty chapters of this fanfiction. To those who have been there since the start (from my other gender bender fic), thank you for sticking by. And for those who have come in later, thank you to you too :). I will properly do another one of these thank you notes at fifty, then maybe even a hundred (if I make it that far XD). I slso cannot beleive I have been writing this for three years. I never thought I could become so devoted to a fanfiction. If only I make my own stories this developed.**

**Hope you enjoyed it all, the same, dear readers.**

**Thank you ^_^.**


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

_**Scapegoat**_

As the group of six walked through the street away from the station, several people looked around in curiosity at the Xingese guards.

"Armour…?" a woman muttered, looking at Fu.

"A mask….?" a man added, looking at Lan Fan.

They ignored the comments.

"Right, we'll check in at the headquarters first," Edwina told everyone, her suitcase slung over one shoulder, red coat on, and her other hand in her pocket. For the first time in a while, she felt truly cheerful, it being at the prospect of seeing Hughes, even willing to endure photos being shoved in her face and pesters to marry. Having looked at the wall clock back in the station, she explained, "The Lieutenant Colonel should be in the council department right now." She then glanced back at the Xingese trio, not noticing something was wrong. "You guys will probably need to wait outside."

"I wonder if he continued looking up information regarding the Philosopher's Stone…" the armour girl queried.

"I hope so," the blonde replied. "The Führer is keeping an eye on him, though, so I doubt it."

"What are you talking about?" Winter asked as he adjusted his own bag, feeling left out with being next to his same-age friend and not being included.

"Women's talk!" Edwina retorted.

"It's always like that…" the mechanic said with a huff of air. He was about to continue when Fu's gruff voice spoke, finally noticed that wrong something. "Where's the Young Mistress gone?" He turned to the younger male. "Lan Fan! You were supposed to be walking behind her so no-one could ambush her!"

The Rizenbul three turned around to face them, all eyes searching, but the young woman was no-where to be found.

The warriors hung their heads in shame and sunk to their knees, in unison saying, "Missing again…"

Lan Fan added, "I bet she's run off to look at something…"

Some of the staring citizens felt pity, guessing this missing girl or woman was important.

"Too bad, so sad…" Edwina quipped in a sing-song voice. "Let's go."

Winter and Lan Fan scowled behind her back, but followed regardless, hoping they would come across her.

As usual, Ling was in no danger. A new location meant a new place to try her favourite trick. Making sure she was in a busy place, she pretended to faint again. Several people gathered around, but before any could speak, two police officers push their way over to her (elating scowls from some people).

"Hey. You ok, lass?" asked the older officer, his thick, slightly downwards curving moustache making him look rather intimidating.

"Food…" the young woman breathed, giving a small twitch.

"Looks like a wanderer," the other policeman stated. "Where are you from, Miss?"

"Xing…" Ling muttered.

"Xing, you say? Well…" he held out his hand. "Your passport, please."

"What? 'Passport'? I don't have one…I didn't know I needed one for someone of my status…"

Each officer grabbed one of her arms and began dragging her away.

"Make way for the illegal immigrant…" one policeman announced as they made their way back through the some group of confused and pitying people.

"Aye, move aside," the other added, waving his free hand dismissively.

"Help me…!" the girl whispered to those bystanders, squiring and wriggling in the men's grasp to no avail.

With the guards on the hunt again, the Elrics and Winter arrived at the headquarters alone (Edwina feeling rather relieved about it).

"Huh?" the Fullmetal Alchemist asked as they approached the gate. "Lieutenant Hawkeye is here?"

"Oh," Hawkeye said in recognition upon seeing the three teenagers as he turned away from the man he had been talking to, handing him back his clip board and tucking the envelope under one arm as he did so. "Edwina and Alphonsa…it's been a while. How are you?" He put on a smile despite the recent events.

"Same old same old," the golden-eyed teenager replied.

The soldier's eyes moved to the light-blonde boy. "Ah, and you are Winter if I remember correctly. Good to see you too."

"Oh, you're the man from back then, Mr. Rizo!" said boy replied. "How is your work going? Is your lady friend rising up?"

"Well, I've learnt over the years that she is perfectly capable of handling herself. But it's my duty as her subordinate to make sure she's safe. If she's in danger or needs assistance, I'm always going to be there. As for raising, she's on her way, but she still has a good bit to go."

"I know how you feel," the young mechanic leaned in closer to the man, glancing at the Elrics. "I worry about those two all the time, but Ed just thinks it's because I think they're weak. I'm only doing what a good friend would." He stepped back to his original position.

"Indeed," the blonde man agreed with a nod.

"Oh yeah, I didn't get to tell you, but I've become an automail mechanic. I helped Granny for a while since I was six, mainly with Ed, before making a few trips to help Ed on my own. Now, I've got an official apprenticeship. It's in Rush Valley!"

"Congratulations." The soldier smiled again, remembering the automail pieces he had seen in the house before going to the side room. "You are turning into a handsome and talented young man."

"You know, I've noticed that Lieutenant Hawkeye is very nice when in the presence of teenagers and kids," Alphonsa commented as she watched the pair.

"Yeah, come to think if it, he is," Edwina replied, remembering those several moments with the man when he seemed almost like a father looking out for his children. "Wait, if the Lieutenant is here, then that also means…"

Right on cue, the dark-haired Colonel stepped out of her the doors. "Oh, hello Fullmetal."

"Hey, Colonel," the girl said with a pout. Hawkeye and Winter looked over at her.

"What's with that unpleasant face?" Mustang asked in a scolding manner with one hand on her hip.

_So this is the Colonel Mustang who recruited Ed…_ Winter thought, having not had a good look at her those several years ago. _She's beautiful._

Having seen equality as little of him, Mustang, unknowingly using it as a distraction from herself, introduced herself after the younger alchemist refused to reply. "Well, hello there. My name is Roy Mustang and my rank is Colonel. You must be Fullmetal's friend, the grandson of that fierce mechanic, right? And you're a mechanic, too, according to Fullmetal. She sure is lucky, as there must be a lot of girls chasing you."

"Um…" the boy began, feeling awkward while the older Elric rolled her eyes. Winter had no idea what to say. "I've never been chased…sure, some of my clients seem like they have a crush on me…but no-one has said outright that they…well…that they're in love with me."

_Why is she here…._ Edwina asked herself in an exasperated tone.

"I was transferred to Central about a week ago," the Flame Alchemist told her, as if reading her mind (her expression was enough) as she put on her coat. "I took my favourite subordinates with me. So, what are you here for?"

"To gather information on the Philosopher's Stone and Homunculus," the younger State Alchemist replied.

Winter was listening intently now. Maybe he could finally know what his friends were up to.

"'Homunculus'?" Mustang scoffed. "Give me a break." She turned away from her, her arms folded and eyes closed in negative amazement. "How the hell do you expect to find information about that from a military that restricts Human Transmutation? You know what will happen."

"I'm still going to try." The blonde felt a smile spread on her face as she added. "Oh yeah, we're also here to see Hughes. How is he?"

The woman's eyes snapped open and the man started. The Flame Alchemist glanced to the two eager, smiling faces and one helmet that was emotionless, yet still held an air of excitement.

"He's not here," Mustang replied blankly, her arms now limp by her sides.

The trio noted the soldiers' now sombre expressions. "What do you mean? He's somewhere else in Central?"

Mustang began heading to the gate. "…He went back to the countryside." Always the stoic when on duty, the First Lieutenant suppressed a gasp. "Recently there have been very few disturbances in Central, and it got him into thinking about life outside the Milltary. He took his wife and daughter back to the countryside, and after a week with them, decided he wanted to quit and spend more time with them. So, he's not here anymore."

_Oh Ma'am…when they find out…_ Hawkeye could feel a lump in his throat. Where was this coming from?

"I…see…" Edwina said, a gnawing suspicion in her stomach. "Why was it so sudden?"

"Well, it is dangerous working in the Milltary," Alphonsa replied before the Colonel could think of anything, much to her secret relief.

"I really wanted to see him, and play with Elicia," Winter said sadly.

"Sorry to disappoint you all. Fullmetal, I'll contact you if I find out anything regarding the information you seek. At least then I can cover for you. Let's go Lieutenant."

"Yes," the man said obediently, and followed, still slightly shocked.

"Oh, and you two," the dark-haired soldier addressed the sisters without looking, her hands in her pockets. "Don't jump to conclusion and don't do anything rash."

"Oh, right, uh, whatever," the baffled older girl replied.

Once they were out of earshot, the sharpshooter spoke. "This seems like the only situation where you have treated Edwina like a child." He looked at her intently.

The woman closed her eyes in frustration again as she answered, "There is no need for her to know yet…it would be better for those sisters if nothing disturbed their progress." She shook her head, her subordinate having nothing with which to respond. "I guess I have no right to call Major Armstrong soft-hearted."

"Oh…I have some news regarding him, or rather, one of his subordinates."

His superior looked at him. "Hm?"

He held out the envelope as he said, "One of them is a suspect, currently being investigated, for Brigadier General Hughes's death."

Mustang was looking through the file. "Really? Second Lieutenant Maria Ross? What reason would she have?"

"She denies it, of course."

A moment of silence pasted and a frown appeared on Mustang's face.

"…Look up documents that link to the Second Lieutenant."

"To what extent?"

"Down to the very last scrap." The Colonel turned on her heel. "Do it fast, but keep it subtle. This is top secret."

"Yes, Ma'am!" Hawkeye said in his serious tone, saluting her.

While the disappointed trio from Rizenbul found the hotel the sisters most often used, back in the HQ, in interrogation room eight, Ross sat at the table, refusing to let her surly expression and anger subside.

"We will be recording this conversation," Douglas warned the Strong-Arm Alchemist once he had stated his purpose for coming.

"It matters not," he replied. "I will support my subordinates no matter what the accusation."

As she saw her superior enter, the Second Lieutenant stood and saluted in him respect. Armstrong looked at her sadly. The General closed and looked the door and everyone, excluding the police, sat down, Ross on side of the table, her hands out on top of it as instructed, Armstrong on the opposite side, and Douglas at the side. The two police officers stood at either side of the Second Lieutenant, slightly back.

"Second Lieutenant Maria Ross," Douglas began, opening a notebook on the table and readying his pen, his eyes fixed on the woman's expression. "The bullet and gun used to murder Brigadier General Hughes was the same 45 calibre as most frequently used by the Milltary. Is that the sidearm you use?"

"Yes," Ross confirmed plainly, unafraid and clasping her hands in seriousness. "By chance, I only had one bullet recently."

"What did you use it for?" her superior nervously asked.

"Recently, I was helping the Elric sisters at the Fifth Laboratory. Sergeant Brosh and I were assigned as the sisters' escorts by Major Armstrong, but they tricked us and went to the place. We assumed that, due to it being a restricted area, it would be empty, but there were these…people. I and the Sergeant had to fire a bullet to defend Alphonsa Elric."

"You have no evidence to support that. The use of that bullet cannot be confirmed for that even if was found under the rubble." The General replied. "One that same day, a witness saw someone matching your description walking away from the location of the assassination."

"Were you…?" the Strong-Arm Alchemist asked, fearing the answer. His hands too, were clasped.

Ross shook her head. "At that time, I was with my parents, but you do not accept alibies from family or friends, do you?!" She angrily addressed the General.

"Calm down, Second Lieutenant, or we will be forced to restrain you," he replied sternly.

"A situation that you cannot explain your way out of…" Armstrong muttered. "I really don't know what to do…"

"It's alright, Sir. I can handle whatever these id— _officers_ throw at me."

With it seeming like nothing more was able to be done for the moment, the interrogation was concluded. Ross was taken elsewhere while Armstrong left the headquarters to clear his head and try to think of some way to help one of his favourite subordinates. As he descended the steps, he heard a call of "Major Armstrong," and looked up to see Sergeant Brosh running toward him from the entrance corridor, one arm saluting.

"I heard what happened to the Second Lieutenant," he said, taking a moment to catch his breath. "I began looking for you as soon as I heard. I have explanation regarding the missing bullet."

"Go on," the Major encouraged, feeling a glimmer of hope.

"We each shot one bullet the Fifth Research Institute, which helping the Elric sisters. It was to defend Alphonsa Elric from a cleaver-wielding maniac in armour."

"You should tell them that," the impossibly tall man said, feeling a glimmer of hope. "You are the Second Lieutenant's partner, with her most of the working day, surely they will believe you."

Brosh looked down at the ground. "I went down the room earlier to back her up…but they wouldn't let me in and just drove me away."

The glimmer of hope died.

"It seems like they have already decided that Ross is guilty," Brosh looked up at his superior with hidden desperation in their eyes. "You can't let her go down for something she never would do, Sir! Ross is the best partner I've had and it won't be the same without her."

_They wanted to set up the Second Lieutenant as the suspect from the beginning?_ The older man ruminated. _Or perhaps…it could be that…but why her…?_

* * *

Falman just finished his breakfast when he had the _slap_ of paper hitting his front door mat. He was glad that making meals was one of few things he did not have to do for the exhaustingly annoying serial killer.

"Oh, the enjoyment of the day," he thought aloud this time, cracking that one smile as he stood and moved through the hall to collect the paper.

"Eh, gettin' the newspaper is your 'enjoyment of the day'?" Barry asked. "You need to get out more."

"Shut up!" the Warrant Officer snapped back as he picked it up. "Being struck inside like this means I have no other entertainment other than the newspaper. It's all your fault, anyway." Upon seeing in the front page, Falman forgot about his complaints. He reached out in the hall again and picked up his telephone receiver, dialling as he did so. "This is Warrant Officer Falman, calling from outside. The code is…" he raised his hand to shield his voice from Barry, who was now leaning around the door in curiosity. Seeing that the man was no longer holding it, Barry picked up the paper and looked.

"Ah!" he said in recognition. "She's back from that time at the laboratory."

The phone gave the _click_ of connection.

"Colonel! Regarding the case of Brigadier General Hughes—"

"Hey, Falman, give me the phone," Barry suddenly said, extending a hand.

"What for?" the man replied. _Calling me by my name? I guess that's his way of being serious or polite._

"Just gimme." He flicked one finger. "I've got something good to tell. No flirting, I promise."

In the hotel, the Fullmetal Alchemist was alone. Winter had his own room and Alphonsa had decided to take a walk.

Lying on the sofa, she reviewed the information she already had in her little notebook. _The Philosopher's Stone…the homunculus Greed with the ouroboros tattoo…homunculus…Human Transmutation…how man shalt not create another man…they are all connected…but who made it possible…?_ She looked up at the fan whirling on the ceiling.

The door slamming open and a yell of "Nee-san!" had her almost falling off the sofa in fright.

"Don't scare me like that!" Edwina cried at the younger teenager.

"Nee-san…the headline…the newspaper front…this…"

The blonde noticed the girl's hand was shaking as she held out a newspaper, and her voice was also somewhat strained. Taking the paper, it only took the girl a few minutes to register what she was looking at, but when she did, her eyes began wide as saucers. "What…the…hell…?" The blurb said it all. "'Second Lieutenant Maria Ross to be convicted as the killer behind the case of Brigadier General Maes Hughes.'"

Winter jumped, looking up from his magazine as he heard a dull _thump_ of something hitting the wall on the other side of him. He decided to ignore it until he heard Alphonsa yell, "Winter, you need to come here!" Putting the magazine down, the boy opened his door and looked at the sisters' room. "What is it, Al?"

Edwina joined the armour girl.

"Winter…" the older girl began, her voice cracking, the younger unable to say anything.

Worry and concern filled the young mechanic as he saw pain in the blonde's eyes, even in Alphonsa's glowing ones. Suddenly, the older girl moved past him.

"Sorry! We'll explain this once we've confirmed it," Edwina told him seriously, placing a hand on his shoulder as she passed. "Come on, Al!"

"Uh, ok…" she followed the other alchemist, glancing apologetically back at her friend before descending the stairs.

"Hey!" the blonde boy cried after them as he stood in the corridor waving his arms hopelessly. "What happened? Just tell me this once!" But the duo was gone.

* * *

Ling looked at the chain around her wrist, bearing her name and prisoner number, as she sat in the cell. She felt rather defenceless without her weapon. She was trained in unarmed marital arts as well as armed, but against guns, she had never fought that way.

"You're not going to torture me, are you?" she asked the man, a constable, who stood opposite her.

"You're not the one asking questions here," he replied gruffly. "So, _Ling Yao_, where are you from?"

"Xing," She replied.

"Age?"

"Fifteen."

"Did you come alone? If not, who came with you? What route did you take? What is your objective?"

The young women fidgeted, wondering whether she would lie or not. Luckily, for her, she would no longer have to deliberate, for at the moment, a loud crashing sound came from somewhere along the previous corridor.

"What's going on?!" the officer in the girl's cell asked another running past.

"Some weird, armoured intruder! We need help!" he replied.

"What?" the man rushed out of the cell, closing it behind him before Ling could slip through. The door to the corridor smashed open, and the five policemen and women readied their guns.

"Too weak! Too weak! Too weak!" Barry yelled as he charged forward. It felt so good to be sinking his cleaver into warn bodies again. The officers opened fire, but most of the bullets simply bounced off him and he continued running forward, raising his blade. "That all you got?!_Huh?!_"

"Guns don't work!" one man cried, beginning to feel fearful. "What the hell is that?!"

Ling could only watch from her cell. _A person immune to bullets?_

"Step aside," the Constable said, taking his shotgun off his back and cocking it. "I'll blow his bloody head off!" the man fired a single shot at the serial killer's head, blasting a hole in one side and knocking it off. However, after facing down Ross, Brosh and Hawkeye, Barry was prepared, and reached back to catch the helmet. All human eyes expanded as they saw the emptiness before the helmet was replaced.

"Heh heh heh!" Barry cackled. "Try again!" with their faces still in shock, the killer charged at each police officer in turn, slashed them across the chest before driving the blade into their arms, legs and heads. While he succeeded in dismembering them, it only left a crack in their skulls. Once all his opponents had fallen, he looked back at his handy work. "Man…it's kind of hard, chopping them up, but at this rate, I'll be done in no time!"

He was about to set off again when Ling called to him: "Hey! There's a key on one of those guys! They might have my sword too! Let me out!"

"And who are you?" Barry asked, walking over to her.

"I'm Ling, an illegal immigrant from Xing. I could help you out. I'm good at fighting."

Barry looked her up and down. "So you're a cute, criminal young lady who travelled from across the desert to get here and can defend herself?" The girl nodded, though she did not think she really was a criminal, as it was just a mistake, but if it would get her out of here, she would keep up the pretence.

The beginning of the giddiness made the killer's decision. "Of course I'll spring you!" Barry found the (now blood-stained) key on the constable and opened the door.

"Thank you!" Ling said as she stepped out.

"You stick with me, sweetheart," the killer said, tossing the key away to spite the other prisoners who were now calling for release. Seemingly with no other option, the girl followed him. Barry led her to the confiscation room and after a few minutes spent sawing the padlock off, booted the door open. It almost came off its hingles with the force.

"Let's see what we can get in here," he said.

Ling looked around for her sword. The room was like a black market shop, with knives, guns, swords, miniature bombs, forged documents, and other bits and bobs lined on shelves and in boxes.

"Oh, that's a nice one!" the armour man suddenly said. From next to a dagger and a sabre, he found the young woman's sword. Ling's jaw fell slightly as he tore off the bandage protection (she always felt scabbards were too bulky), revealing the shiny blade of the handsome Dao. He gave it a few test swings, causing the orange tassel to swish like fire.

"That's mine!" Ling cried, unable to take him not using the blade correctly anymore. It was the representation of her status and clan, it could not be damaged.

"Oh, well, sorry, Missy, but I'm borrowing it for a while," Barry replied without looking at her, before heading out the door. Shaking her head, the Xingese teenager followed.

A few minutes later, Ross stood up from the cell bed as she heard a clanking noisy approach. She grabbed the bars, her head whipping to the right, as the guard for the corridor was slashed across the throat and chest by a cleaver and a sword. Her eyes widened in the killer approached her cell. She backed away a few steps, her fists raised.

"Hello, honey!" Barry said in a rather exited tone. "Finally found you!"

"You're from the Fifth Research Institute!" the dark-haired woman cried back. "What the hell are you doing here? Come to kill me in revenge?" She was still fearless as the armoured being sawed through the lock and opened the door, replying: "What an honour to be remembered!" Ross stood her ground as the killer stepped inside. He glanced at his hand as he continued. "I think of you every time I see that bullet hole you made. But according to the Military, that bullet was used to kill Brigadier General Hughes…"

"That's a misunderstanding!" the woman shot back.

"I thought so." Barry leaned in close, right to her face. The Second Lieutenant clenched her teeth. "You don't have the eyes of a killer. It's too bad, though…" From inside his armour, Barry drew out Falman's newspaper and hung it before the soldier's face. "If they had just investigated properly…"

"What?" Ross said, grabbing the paper. "'Convicted'? _Me?_"

_The law in this country is beginning to look rather brutal and incompetent, _Ling thought from her unnoticed position leaning against the wall.

"Yeah, if you don't do anything, you'll be executed for the crime, and it ain't a quick and painless death, I'll tell you. You have a choice, stay here and die, or come with me to freedom."

"This is…just terrible," Ross said to herself as she continued looking at the paper.

"Choose! One or the other!" the armour man demanded, stabbing the Dao though the paper to aim at the soldier's face, making her jump and Ling feel another burst of anger as her favourite weapon was misused again.

The Second Lieutenant dropped the paper and rubbed the back of her head. "This is the worst decision of my life…I need time to think…"

The Xingese girl's head popped around the corner as she pointed and said, "I don't think we have time for that. Re-enforcements are here."

Two more policemen came down the corridor and readied their guns. "Freeze!" one cried.

"Right. Choose one or I'll chop you up!" Barry threatened Ross.

"Oh! Ok! I'll go with you!" she replied back quickly. It was the first option in her mind. _Mum, Dad, forgive me…_

"You better escort me properly for what I'm risking, you stupid bone armour!" the solider barked as the trio broke into a run, avoiding bullets as they did so.

"Oh, that's the attitude I love!" Barry replied. _Two tough ladies in one night…this is turning into the best night of my life!_

"A woman has to be brave!" Ross responded.

As the trio headed toward the exit, two police officers arrived at Douglas's office. They entered without identifying themselves, but the General was too busy with a phone call to care.

"Yes…I see…use all you have at your disposal." He placed the receiver down and acknowledged the two men's presence, but did not turn around, instead turning on his intercom. "Contact the entire city force. Maria Ross has escaped from the Eastern Distract Prison. Seems to have acquired a dangerous companion. If she resists capture, permission to shoot to kill is granted."

The officers left again.

Inside her office, Mustang sat at her desk with her hands over one another in front of her face, as she did when she was thinking or serious.

"Lieutenant," she said, standing up suddenly.

The blonde man looked up from the documents on his own desk. "Yes?" For some reason he felt worried.

"I'm going out for a little while." She pulled open her top desk drawer and pocketed her transmutation gloves. "Look after the office." She left, the man staring after her, the worrying feeling growing. Returning to the documents, he tried to ignore it.

"Where are we running to?" the Xingese girl was now asking as the three escapees heading down the street away from the prison.

"Never mind, just keep going!" Ross told her. However, they had to skid to a halt when two more people came around the corner. The other two did as well.

"Second Lieutenant Ross!" The Fullmetal Alchemist and armoured girl cried.

"Edwina and Alphonsa!" Ross replied at the same time.

Alphonsa noticed the other two, and pointed an angry finger at Barry. "You're that guy from the laboratory who tried to trick me into thinking I'm not human!"

"You know him?!" Edwina cried.

The armour man was also pointing, but could not think of anything to say.

Edwina pointed at the young woman beside them both. "And Ling too? What a weird group. What are you all doing here? We heard you'd been arrested for murder, Second Lieutenant! Did you really kill Hughes…?" Her voice dropped sorrowfully at the last sentence.

"Sorry, we can't just stand and chat," the serial killer said, trying to shove by but the younger Elric would not let them and pushed Barry back. In response, Barry held up his cleaver defensively.

"Stop bothering the lady!" he snapped, waving the blade. "Miss, run to the warehouse cluster down that alley." He pointed the Dao to the left. "You can get away in the darkness!" Neither the young woman nor the soldier moved. Barry turned his skull-like head. "Hurry! Don't wonna be killed by the soldiers after all this, do you?"

Ross turned and run. "I'm sorry, Edwina! I'll explain later!" The darkness was swallowing her. Ling wanted to follow, with no weapon, it seemed sticking with the armour man was safer.

"Second Lieutenant!" Edwina cried after her.

Looking at Barry with clenched teeth, she struck out, but he was ready and swung the blades one after the other repeatedly, causing the alchemists to give a yelp of surprise and step back.

"Don't come any closer!" the killer said in his threatening tone.

"Second Lieutenant!" Alphonsa now cried, her arms up protectively as she looked to her left. But the woman was gone.

At that moment, Falman woke up with a throbbing headache.

"Ah…" he groaned, rubbing the lump on his head as he crouched on all fours. "'Gimme the phone'…should have known better…" He looked up at the telephone. "Crap! He dented it good…" He picked up the receiver and dialled. To his relief, he was through.

"Lieutenant Hawkeye!" he cried.

"Yes, it's me. Is something wrong?" the blonde sharpshooter asked, hearing the anger and apologetic tone of the other man.

"I'm sorry but," Falman continued to rub his head. "Barry has gotten away! Tell the Colonel!"

The man glanced the desk, but for his own concern rather than confirmation. "The Colonel is out on personal business. She won't be back for a while."

The Colonel had found her target. Ross felt the first fearfulness since her accusation as she looked the woman before her in the narrow alley, a military coat thrown over her shoulders, gloves with transmutation circles on her hands, and a grim expression on her bob-framed face. There was no mistake that this was the well-known Colonel Mustang, 'The Flame Alchemist'.

"You are Maria Ross, correct?" the State Alchemist asked simply.

Slowly, ever so slowly, the Second Lieutenant nodded.

Without another word, the older woman raised her right hand and clicked. There was nothing more Ross could do than looked shocked. Still battling in the prison street, Edwina's, Alphonsa's, Ling's and Barry's head all whirled around as they heard the roar of fire, seeing its burning tips licking the walls.

"What the hell was that?!" Barry shrieked.

Edwina did not even have to think. "Shit!" she shouted as she run pass the armoured killer, the other three only able to watch her go, surprised by this suddenness as well. Recovering, Alphonsa took the opportunity to take a swing at her fellow armour being.

"Ack!" Barry squeaked, just managing to dodge the strike. "Why you little…I told you I don't have time to play with you guys!" Dodging around the younger Elric again, he resumed running down the street.

"Come on, Xingese doll!"

This latest nickname offended the young woman. Maybe when they were safe she would punish him.

"Aye!" she responded regardless (having heard another prisoner use it) and followed.

"Ling! Why are you going with that guy?! He's a murderer!" Alphonsa called after her.

Ling paused at the street corner and replied, "He helped me get of that cell! I'm just returning the favour!" She sped off.

The armour girl sighed. She turned and went in the direction the older alchemist had gone. The Fullmetal Alchemist herself was just arriving at the scene of the blaze, the fire now gone but the smoke still thick. Her hands balled as she spotted her superior officer, standing stoic still at the other end of the alleyway.

"Hello, Fullmetal." The Flame Alchemist greeted again upon stopping the younger alchemist, her voice monotone.

Edwina was about to ask her with she was here, but the gut-wrenching smell of burnt flesh stopped her walking. Covering her nose with one hand, she looked down. Before her was a body, a woman judging by the shape, who was hardly more than a pile of ashes. The blonde's eyes widened for a moment when she saw the silver band around one wrist, the name displayed on it being "Maria Ross."

"What's going on…?" Edwina asked quietly. When there was no reply, she raised her voice straight to a shout and some of the greatest anger she had ever felt boiled within her. "_What's going on?!_" With the response still silence, the girl found herself running forward and grabbing the older female by the front of her uniform jacket. "EXPLAIN YOURSELF! WHY WAS HUGHES KILLED? WHY IS SECOND LIEUTENANT ROSS GUILTY?!"

* * *

**Author's Note: Hmm…I cannot really think of anything in particular to say about this chapter, only that I am worried that it may not have enough original content.**

**Well, hope you enjoy it, dear readers :).**

**Thank you ^_^.**


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

_**The Bitter Alchemist**_

As the Fullmetal Alchemist reached up to punch the still-silent woman, the older alchemist simply grabbed her wrist and drove her own fist across the teenager's face, before letting her go. The blonde stumbling back, her check beginning to swell.

"Assaulting a superior officer…" the woman said in calm anger. "You could be court-martialled for that. Behave properly."

_Should have known better…_ reprimanded a small voice inside the older Elric's head, but she did not heed. She charged at the woman again, raising her right hand this time.

* * *

"Rushing out without even locking the door or putting the light off," Winter muttered to himself with his hands on his hips as he walked through the Elric's room, tired of waiting in his own. "They are so careless." He looked at the papers strewn on the floor and the table. "It's so messy too…" He was about to fold up the newspaper on the table when the photo of the familiar Second Lieutenant caught his eye. Curious, he picked up the paper and read.

All he could do was gasp with horror and devastation as the paper slipped from his fingers on to the floor.

* * *

"Let me go! Let me go right now!_ Al!_" Edwina shouted. Her sister only tightened her grasp as she pulled the blonde back, whose arm was still outstretched.

"You can't!" she said again, trying to catch the girl's flailing arms. "I don't know what happened but—"

"_This bitch!_" Edwina began, raising her voice to before, and pointing down at the corpse before them. "_She did this to Second Lieutenant Ross!_"

"Ross…?" Alphonsa looked to where the girl was pointing and saw the pile of ashes that was once an intelligent, thoughtful woman. She looked back at Mustang, how holding the older girl by her arms. "What's going on, Colonel?"

"The murderer of Maes Hughes, Maria Ross, was on the run and an order to kill her had been issued. That's all," the woman replied simply.

"That doesn't explain anything!" Alphonsa shot back. She honestly thought about letting her sister go, and watching the result.

"I'm sorry I hid Hughes's death from you," the woman replied genuinely, though her expression did not change from its grimness.

Neither teenager could think of anything to say, sadness now washing over them. They would not need to, for at that moment, two headlights appeared at end of the alley, behind Mustang, blinding the girls for a moment. Once it had stopped, five police officers stepped out of the car, followed by General Douglas. The women and men acknowledged the Colonel and Edwina with a salute before starting to clean the scene. The bespectacled General simply acknowledged the alchemists with a nod as he stood by and watched with his hands behind his back.

Up on right adjacent building, Ling and Barry had been watching everything.

"What do we do now?" Ling asked, looking at the armour man.

"Well, with people gathering, we've got no choice but to scram," he replied. He leapt to the next building behind them and down into the street, saying, "I know a place. Let's go."

"Right." The young woman paused for a moment to look at the sisters, who were now sitting on the ground leaning against the wall (Edwina having given up on beating up the Flame Alchemist, her mind reeling), and then at Ross's body, now covered by a white sheet. "…I'm sorry." She hopped onto the next building to follow the armour man.

"He's from the Eastern Headquarters," another female officer was informing the onyx-eyed woman as she looked at Douglas without recognition.

"I see…" the older soldier replied, her hands in to her pockets.

The man approached her. "I am General Henry Douglas. Please explain what happened here, Colonel Mustang."

"The orders stated were that if resistance was shown by Ross, then shooting to kill was allowed," the younger officer explained. "She resisted, so I killed her according to that order."

The General raised his eyebrows as he replied, "Eager to score points, aren't we?"

The Flame Alchemist also raised an eyebrow. "'Points'? Are the higher ups from Central not happy about seeing the rise of a dutiful soldier from the East HQ?"

"I'm saying you overdid it!" Douglas snapped. "I don't think we can even confirm whether it is Maria Ross or not!"

Once the officers had cleared away the body, everyone began heading back to their original tasks. Both feeling rather numb and still in shock, the Elrics headed to the hospital with the Flame Alchemist, a police officer and one of Douglas's subordinates.

"I am greatly sorry for not being able to tell you about Hughes's death," the Strong-Arm alchemist said sadly and the three of them stood outside the operating theater. "I am never very good when it comes to bad news."

"He was killed because he learned too much about the Philosopher's Stone…" Edwina thought aloud, looking at the floor. "It's all my fault...I-I pulled him into this." She screwed her eyes shut to prevent tears from forming.

"It's not your fault," the Major replied gently, the girls' sadness producing tears of his own, which he too, did his best to hold back. "Don't' think like that! You two are wonderful, intelligent young women! Hughes knew what he was getting involved in. He would never have blamed either of you."

The older Elric was still looking down. "Winter…he was so looking forward to seeing Hughes, to see Elicia…how am I going to explain this to him. This is something we can't keep to ourselves…"

The group turned their heads as a doctor, pulling down his surgical mask, walking through the double doors at the end of the corridor, adjusting his glasses.

"Mm, didn't expect so many here," he said as he looked around at the soldiers and one non-soldier. He cleared his throat before continuing, "Since the injuries were so severe, we could not tell whether the subject was alive or dead before being burnt.

"So, it's possible that it wasn't even her…?" Armstrong asked, his optimism returning. The Elrics looked up at the doctor with the same growing feeling.

"No," the doctor replied and held up his clipboard to show the form on it. "The denial records confirmed that the subject is indeed Maria Ross."

The hope died again. "Poor woman, suffering something so cruel." The doctor adjusted his glasses and moved his eyes to the only sitting person. "Seems like you had quite the grudge, Ms. Mustang. Couldn't you have just intimidated her or something? Makes life easier for us in the medical profession."

The State Alchemist folded her arms, but did not look up as she responded, "It had been a while since I used my flames. I overdid it."

The man huffed. "An Ishval war hero should know better. Disgusting." The doctor walked away, shaking his head.

Once he was gone, the Major turned to Mustang. "Regarding the awful thing my subordinate has done—"

"You do not need to apologise," The Colonel cut across him, standing up.

"I could not imagine that Second Lieutenant Ross would commit murder. She was honest and earnest…" the nearly-bald man looked up at the woman, his expression clearly displaying his seething rage. "…Considerate…" Everyone, including the Colonel, felt a pang of terror as the Strong-Arm Alchemist extended a hand toward the other officer's throat. But Mustang stood her ground. The man's fingers were just touching her neck and then – he collapsed into the seat, that hand going over his face as he sobbed.

The younger alchemist, not quite knowing why, knelt down next to him, but her face still as emotionless as ever. She struggled to think what to say. "Major…this must be very stressful for you. You should take a holiday."

"Hm?" Armstrong wiped his tears as looked down at the younger alchemist.

"There's a nice place in the eastern region where I go on breaks. It's nice and quiet, and has plenty of good people to meet." She picked up her coat. "You can get to it on the ten-past-six train." She headed down the corridor.

For a moment, no-one said anything, the place utterly silent. Edwina kicked over the rubbish bin next to her with a cry of anger mixed with grief.

In the meantime, Barry had taken Ling to Falman's house. The man did let them in, but not without berating Barry, and two were now settling down for the night.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" the Warrant officer continued as the armour man cleaned off the cleaver and re-sharpened it on a piece of wood. "Do you know what could've happened if you went out on your own?! My neck's on the line here too!"

"No-one saw us come back, so it's ok," the killer replied.

"That's not the problem here!" he pointed out of the window, where the young Xingese woman sat cross-legged in the garden, having constructed a fire pit using old bricks and twigs. "And on top of that, you bring back a stranger with you?!"

Barry was looking at the girl. "Hey, what's that you're doing?"

"Making smoke signals," Ling replied as she fanned the flames with a piece of ragged cloth.

"Smoke signals?" a puzzled Barry repeated. Before she could explain, Falman spoke up again. "You do realise there's a reason we're in hiding—"

"_Young Mistress!_" came a dual cry as two pairs of boots slammed on to the roof (bending the wood, but thankfully not breaking it) before the guardians landed on the ground beside their charge. Falman jumped with fright while Barry chuckled.

"We've been looking everywhere in this city for you!" Fu exclaimed.

"Oh, that was fast," Ling replied, smiling at them.

"There's even more people now," Barry said with a jab of his thumb.

Falman gave a growl of frustration, on the verge of ripping out his hair.

As they now stood outside Winter's room, the alchemist sisters had to take a few moments to brace themselves. Slowly, Edwina reached out and knocked the door.

"Winter?" she called at the same time. There came no reply. "…Winter?" she knocked again, but still no one came.

"He went out?" Edwina thought aloud after a few more minutes of silence.

"We should wait until he comes back."

The two moved to their own room. Edwina turned the handle and was about to place in the key when the door opened.

"Crap, we forgot to lock it!" The two walked in and looked around.

"Nothing is stolen, is it?" Alphonsa asked.

The blonde's eyes narrowed. "…It's gone."

"What is?!" the younger Elric said, moving over to where she stood, looking down at the coffee table.

"The newspaper is gone!" much like Armstrong before her, she collapsed on to the couch, her flesh hand over her face, but instead of crying, she clenched her teeth. "I'm such a moron. Winter…"

With the newspaper tucked under one arm, the blonde boy was walking up the street without really looking, his feet automatically leading him towards the Hughes' house. Once he arrived, he looked at the door for a moment, it seeming larger than before.

Taking a breath, he knocked. Almost immediately, there sounded the thumps of small feet, before the owner flung the door open.

"Papa!" Elicia cried joyfully, spreading out her arm as she let go of the frame. Winter watched as her smile slowly fading and she looked down at the floor. Having stepped back slightly due to the sudden movement, the young mechanic was further surprised when the girl threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his legs. He felt drops of water fall on his knees as the toddler buried her face in his trousers. That was all it took for his tears to fall.

"Do we have a guest, Elicia?" Gracia's voice floated down the hall as she approached the door. "Oh, Winter!" she said upon stopped and seeing the boy.

"Mrs. Hughes…" the boy said, his voice shaking. The woman saw the paper in his arms and felt dread. "I'm sorry…for coming so suddenly."

Gracia led him inside with an arm around his shoulders, the boy picking up Elicia as he did so.

In their hotel room, the alchemists sat waiting. The only noise was the _whump-whump-whump_ of the fan above them. That was until there was a knock at their door. Rushing over to it with the armour girl, Edwina pulled it open with a cry of "Winter!"

The male receptionist jumped back with a yelp of "Whoa!" before speaking to the older girl. "Miss Elric, there's a phone call for you at the front desk, from a Mrs. Gracia Hughes."

Glancing at her sister with a worried expression, the two followed the man downstairs to the desk, where Edwina picked up the phone with a greeting of "Hello?"

"Hello, Edwina," Gracia replied, keeping her voice low. "Winter's here with me…Yes it's true…Elicia still doesn't understand. I'm worried about what when happen when she finally gives up hoping… Can you come and pick up Winter? He really doesn't look good."

The blonde mechanic sat in a rocking chair with the toddler on his lap, pale and silent. The little girl clung to his jacket, her head against his chest, no longer crying but still wanting solace.

"I'll come right away," Edwina replied. "Where do you live?"

"Mayflower Street." Gracia gave them directions, which Edwina wrote on a piece of paper one receptionist had given her. After placing the phone down, she turned to the younger alchemist with a frown. "I'll go get Winter, you stay here. I'm going to tell him the whole truth."

"I'm going too," Alphonsa said in her authoritative voice.

Edwina shook her head. "No need for the both of us to get scolded."

"This is not solely your problem, Nee-san. As with most things involving both of us, this is a problem for both of us. I have to go too."

A sad but secretly grateful expression on the blonde's face, the two headed out the door. As the door closed behind them, Edwina spoke again. "Hey, Al, if Winter—"

"Don't say it," Alphonsa quickly said sternly. "I'm sick of you making sacrifices for me. This time, I'm going to go through all of this with you."

With a grim look on the Fullmetal Alchemist's face, the girls proceeded to Hughes' house, it taking hour or so. They knocked on the door, and Gracia greeted them both with an equality dismal expression, but gave a comforting embrace before leading them inside. They found Winter still in the living room. As he heard the clanking of armour, he quickly wiped his tears, this time wanting to keep them secret.

"Winter, we're here to pick you up," the older Elric said as the two female teenagers stopped.

He looked up at Edwina before down at Elicia for a moment, finding she had fallen asleep. "…I'm sorry." He told the sisters in a low tone.

"I'm sorry too," Edwina replied, surprised at how soft her voice was.

As the mechanic picked up his bag, the alchemist turned to Gracia. "Mrs. Hughes, there something I need to tell you, if it's ok?"

"Of course," Gracia replied, having picked up her daughter.

"You should hear it too," Alphonsa said, looking at Winter.

He paused in reaching for his bag and looked with a surprised expression. "…Thank you."

Gracia brewed a pot of tea and they all took a seat in the living room, the woman covering the toddle with a blanket as she placed her head on her lap. The mood was quiet and sombre.

After cycling through the things Winter already knew, but did not fully understand, the girls went to the main topic – The Philosopher's Stone. Both felt nervous as they explained, the boy listening intensely.

"…And it's because we wanted our bodies back before then that we've been researching the Philosopher's Stone," Edwina was now explaining.

Alphonsa took her turn again. "When Nee-san was hospitalized, Lieutenant Col— I mean, Brigadier Hughes didn't just for that one visit. He looked after us. He also helped us research things regarding the stone, too, using resources from the Military. But it seems like it was connected to the Military's secrets, something they really don't want people to know. Something so dangerous that the Führer himself came to tell us it was such."

"My husband found something out…perhaps, his death was a warning from the culprit not to meddle in this matter anymore?" Gracia suggested with a frown as she stroked her child's hair.

"Probably," Edwina commented lowly, before looking down at her feet, clasping her hands over one another. "But I still think it was us…that we dragged him into this."

"We're sorry," the alchemists said in unison, bowing their heads to the woman. "We're so, so, sorry!"

The armour girl looked up. "We can't have any more people getting hurt or dying because of our quest. We discussed it on the way here. We are no longer going to—"

Winter jolted, fear striking him. His voice was slightly high as he cried, "No! You can't just…" His words faded as the trio looked at the light-brunette. She was smiling.

"If he really did die because he was trying to help others…then I guess he made an honourable sacrifice." The teenagers could only stare in disbelief. "He was always poking his nose into other people affairs, trying to help them even at his own expense." She glanced at Elicia again. "For him, the disadvantages were always outweighed by the happiness he gained." For a moment of her speech, Gracia looked angrily at the Elrics. "If you give up now, my husband's death will be in vain." She returned to smiling. "If you can't use the Philosopher's Stone, then just try some other method. Walk forward down your path according to your beliefs."

When the tea was finished, the sisters decided it was time for them to leave. Elicia, now awake, gave her 'brother' another cuddle, and the alchemists were surprised when she did the same to them. Gracia gave also gave them a group hug before waving them off and closing the door. However, as the three of them left, something made Edwina pause at the gate. Alphonsa, who had her arm around the silent mechanic, did not notice. The blonde saw Gracia appear in the upstairs window, holding her daughter in her arms. She felt like someone had stabbed her in the heart when the woman raising a hand to her face, her shoulders clearly heaving in sobs. She followed her sister and friend, remaining behind them, hands in pockets and head bowed.

As they passed by the restaurant that they had seen on the way to the house, Edwina spoke. "I'm going to stop off at that restaurant," she told the younger Alchemist, hoping her voice did not show anything. "I need some time alone to think."

"Oh, ok," Alphonsa replied plainly, though Edwina could tell she was suspicious.

Winter still said nothing. Alphonsa pulled him closer as they walked alone.

Taking a seat in one of the outside tables, Edwina suddenly realised how hungry she was. She ordered a meal, and while the hot, steaming Aerugian dish of chicken, tomato and red pepper soup with garlic bread brought her comfort, it was tasteless to her. As she ate, she did her best to gather her thoughts, and plan their next move. Gracia's words came into her head, and she could not get the image of her sobbing out of her mind. _Walk forward, huh?_ She repeated, a forgotten spoonful of soup halfway towards her mouth. She found herself remembering what the Führer had told her once, 'In a place such as this, you cannot tell friends from enemies. Trust no-one'. Like a radio recording, her mind immediately moved on the next related quote, this time by Ross, 'Is it not ok to just trust adults, anymore?". She fiddled with her hair, finally taking the spoonful. _I don't know what to believe as I walk forward, any more…_ Pushing the bowl back, she let her head fall forward onto the table with a muffled thud.

The waiter who had served her, noticing this, walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder in concern.

"Ma'am, are you not feeling well?" When the teenager did not respond, he leaned closer. "Ma'am?"

_I would rather have been scolded…_ the girl thought. Straightening up so suddenly that the man jumped, she paid for the food and left, slowly walking back to the hotel. As she stood outside Winter's door, she had to take another deep breath to steady herself.

"Winter…?" she asked, knocking gently. "Are you in there?"

Looking up from the damp spot on the pillow, Winter unwound his arms from around it where he lay, stood up, wiped his tears on the bottom of his sleeveless white top, and opened the door.

"Yes?" Winter asked, his hands on the door.

"I was wondering if…if you…have you eaten anything yet?" the blonde quickly finished the sentence, unable to say what was more concerning. It seemed fear was beginning to take over. "You haven't eaten anything all day, right?"

Winter slowly shook his head. "No."

"Well, that cafeteria in here is going to close soon. If you don't eat properly, your body won't hold up."

The mechanic found himself smiling at the reference to his earlier warning to his friend. He followed her down the corridor, but then stopped as they descended the stairs, a thought striking him. The girl jolted when he reached out and gently took her metal hand. "Wait. Come with me."

The alchemist felt nervous as Winter took her back to his room and directed her onto the couch. Fishing his bag out from under the bed, Winter drew out a paper box. Turning it around so it faced the girl, he opened the lid. The delicious flavour in the steam was instantly recognizable.

"…apple pie?" Edwina asked, leaning forward and finding herself admiring the wonderfully crafted dessert.

Again, Winter smiled, and again, Edwina so no falseness behind it. "I made it in Mrs. Hughes's kitchen while I was there. Elicia watched and it cheered her up a bit. Go on, have a slice."

"It's huge…" Edwina commented. _And beautiful. I can't eat this, not with what I've done. That's a reward…_

"Mrs. Hughes taught me to make it…" the male blonde looked down again, bringing his hands together on his knees. The older Elric of course noticed. "I've practiced a few times before this. I dunno if it's good to say this right now, but I think I've improved." The girl just listened. "I really…" the streams began running down his cheeks again. "I really wanted Mr. Hughes to try it someday, as a thank you for being so nice to me…" he paused to sniff. "I know I only knew him for a little while, b-but he was the closest thing to a father I had s-since…well, you know."

Edwina knew he was right. Only now did she notice that, when she thought of a father, instead of 'that bastard', she thought of Maes Hughes and his pictures, Hughes and his pesters to get married, Hughes looking out for her and Alphonsa's health and well-being. She reached out and took a piece of the pie, and bit into it. It was sweet yet tart, and she could clearly taste the still-crunchy apples and the pastry was moist.

"It's delicious," she told the boy, trying to show how genuine she was with a smile.

Winter did not reply, only continuing to weep.

* * *

"…And so, Ms. Mustang has successfully avenged her best friend's death," Lust concluded. Gluttony, as usual, was barely listening, sitting quietly waiting.

"What a happy ending!" Envy replied in mockingly cheerful manner, its arms outspread.

"Not quite. It was unexpected that not only did she escape, but she was killed by Mustang. I think we were being a bit loose."

"Who cares? The dog took the bait, so no harm done," the fourth older Homunculus replied, before holding out the piece of paper in its hand. "We made some gain too." The female took the paper and opened it. Her eyebrows raised in curiousity as she saw the skull-like armoured head. "That's the suspect who attacked the prison."

"My, my," Lust quipped. "I thought he died when the fifth institute was destroyed, but it may be possible that, seeing as he did escape, he has had contact with the Flame Alchemist." She looked over at her older 'sibling'. "Do you know where he escaped to?"

Envy rubbed the back of its neck. "No. Like when he was alive, he's good at running and hiding."

The woman shook her head and turned away from him, beginning to walk, her heels clicking on the floor. "So in other words, you don't know. So useless."

"Shut up, you hag!" the wispy-haired creature snarled. "I need more helpers."

Lust opened the heavy metal doors to the cage room. "This thing right here will be all the help you need." She stopped before a cage at the very end of the room.

"Come out..." Lust beckoned to the hunched over shadow within. "It's your turn, Barry the Chopper."

The distinctly human being grabbed the bars with its long-nailed fingers, eyes glowing angrily in his metal mask. He let out a growl of anticipation.

* * *

**Author's Note: I do not think I have put enough original content in this character either, and that I am not keeping the story interesting. Am I, dear readers?  
I also hope I put enough emotion into this, especially during Mustang's façade (pretending Maria really is dead, like in the manga/Brotherhood anime and the Elrics' and Winter's reactions to knowing that Hughes really is dead. I also feel more sad writing a sad scene or event then reading it, and I think I am bad at those things, as I think I either make them too sappy and cliché, or not emotional enough (as in above).**

That last line is also kind of crappy too, as I did not really know what to write.

I hope you enjoyed it all the same though, dear readers.

Thank you ^_^.


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33**

_**The Body of a Criminal**_

Falman gave up trying, though he was slightly relieved that he had persuaded every to come inside to try and keep up the secretiveness. Well, he had convinced almost everyone. The old warrior had insisted on looking around the city for any threat that could come for them. At Ling's request, Barry had gone down into the living room to share 'information' about his 'immortality' ("Anything for a strong, pretty young lady!") with the remaining Xingese duo.

"So, you see," he concluded as Ling and Lan Fan sat cross-legged before him (the latter doing the same out of respect for the Young Mistress). "There no way of knowing about immortality and stuff like that because all the researchers who put me in this body are dead."

"Now that's just not fair," Ling retorted. Her servants remained quiet, but irritated. "You owe me a favour! I helped out at the prison!"

"And I got you out and brought you here, so there," the armour man replied with a huff.

"No, I'm talking about the East…"

"Oh, that." Barry stroked his chin. "I'll think about it." A thought did indeed come to him, and he leaned in closer, as he said, "You know that Alphonsa girl right? She's got a body similar to mine so you can go ask him."

"Ah, that armoured girl? Yes, I know her." Ling had learned more forward.

"Yoo-hoo? Am I going to learn anything here?" the Warrant Officer asked helplessly.

"Ok, then." Ling stood, Lan Fan copying. "I'll be back in a bit. Lan Fan, send out a signal if anything comes up."

"Yes, My Lady," the Xingese boy replied with a nod behind his mask before bowing her out.

"Hello?" the soldier called.

"See ya later, sweetheart!" Barry said with a wave as the young woman walked to the front door, taking up the keys from the hook on it to open it (she was glad Fu was not here, as he would implore to follow her). "Keep your guard up."

"Hey! _Give me an explanation already!_" Falman cried, waving his arms in offence.

"Ah, shut _up_, man," Barry said, turning to the other man. "Your role here is 'helpless Milltary officer who's been forced by the prison attacker to be confined in a ghetto flat'."

"Wha…?"

Barry took a seat at the table.

Feeling slightly intimidated, Falman noticed Lan Fan, now sitting the floor in the living. "Excuse me…"

Lan Fan turned his head to look up at him. The man did not know what to say.

"This is your house, isn't it, sir?" the boy suddenly asked, guessing he was trying to ask him something.

"Yeah," Falman replied.

"Well then, unlike this…_gentleman_ here, I shall treat it with the upmost respect."

"Well, uh, thanks, I guess." The black-grey-haired man rubbed the back of his neck, which felt hot.

"No need to be nervous, sir. I know you are not a threat to my Mistress."

"Well, ok…"

* * *

"Hello, Richard!" Mustang said cheerily into the phone. "How are you?"

"Why, Roya, thank you for calling me as always. It is from the office again?" came the equally happy but also curious voice on the other side.

"I just wanted to hear your voice," The woman replied with a flirtatious titter.

"You're so smooth Mustang, but won't your scary First Lieutenant be mad at you if you don't get back to work?" asked the officer who sat at Hawkeye's desk, checking the paperwork the Colonel had done so far.

"Don't worry, he's on a holiday," the woman replied with a cheeky grin and her hand covering the receiver. "We just took care of a big assignment, so I thought it was only fair to let him take a break since we've got that load off our shoulders.

"How nice," the older man replied, gathering up the papers to leave. He joined his partner outside the officer, rubbing the back of his neck.

"So this is what happens when First Lieutenant Hawkeye takes his days off," he took his dark-haired companion as they walked down the corridor. "He really is her 'babysitter'."

"I think this is her way of grieving though," the other man theorised. "Some people just pretend everything is alright when they are in fact seeing comfort without the other person realising it."

"Even so, she's got some nerve to use a Military line to gossip and flirt."

"Hey, some men do the same to women, wanting to impress them. They do say women like a man in uniform, so why not the reverse?"

"That seems oddly specific…"

"Um…well…"

"I've been working non-stop since I came to Central," the Flame Alchemist was now saying. "I'm thinking about taking a break soon. Are you planning on going somewhere?"

"I'm considering fishing. It's my latest obsession. Care to join me?"

The woman smiled knowingly. "Sure."

At the hotel, after finishing off the pie, Edwina returned to her room, but the boy followed.

"The more I look, the more dents and scratches I see," Winter commented to the armour girl as he polished the neck protector. He had to do _something_. "Is your journey getting harder?"

"Yeah, I guess it is…" Alphonsa replied as she polished her helmet.

Winter glanced at the older Elric, who was lying on the bed running things through her head. "Hey…what are you going to do next?"

"Not sure," she replied. "What do you want us to do?"

The male blonde blinked in surprise, pausing.

"…What?" Edwina asked, feeling slightly uncomfortable as she sat up in concern.

"…You've never consulted me about what do to do with yourselves…"

"I see…" for the first time, the female blonde felt truly guilty at not sharing everything with her best friend, but she knew that it was for the best. He worried too much, and yet…

Looking at the younger teenager, Winter placed a work-gloved hand on her shoulder. "It scared me…when I realised that you guys have been putting yourselves in so much danger that it cost Mr. Hughes his life…it scared me a lot." Now both sisters feel guilty. They realised they had never really listened to their friend's concerns, always assuming it to be out of gender differences. "That means you can be killed, you know? O-one day, you might just disappear and I might never see you again. And thinking of that made me get really frightened." He was now stroked the younger teenager's shoulder, as the girl herself replaced her helmet. "To be honest, it made me wish you would stop travelling. But when mentioned about giving up on restoring your original bodies…I just thought 'No! You can't just give up! You're not like that!'. They are both my true feelings, as confusing as that sounds." He had returned to polishing, gently pulling his hand free from where Alphonsa had taken it. "I want you to get your bodies back, but I also want you to stop your dangerous journey so…um…" He chewed his lip in thought. "Argh, I'm sorry. I'm not sure what you can do next either."

"You really are kind, Winter."

The boy felt another blush light up his check as he froze. He looked over at the female blonde, not hiding his surprise as he yelped, "Huh?! W-why are you saying that? I'm always kind!" He polished the cold metal more feverishly. "See?"

"Ah! Don't! You're making more scratches!" Alphonsa wailed.

"Sorry, sorry, I—"

A knock at the door silenced them all. Sliding off the bed, Edwina walked over and opened it.

"Yes, what is—" the girl just managed to throw up her right arm to block the large, incoming fist, and she heard the metal snap as she was blown down onto the carpet.

"What was that for?!" Edwina exclaimed demandingly as she sat up, while Alphonsa and Winter stared with metaphorically and real wide eyes.

"Oh no! This isn't good!" Armstrong said with a shake of his head as he lifted the girl up by her armpits and extended her right arm, hopeful the younger alchemist would detect the falseness of his tone. "Your automail is broken! How terrible!" Placing the girl back down, he continued. "This is indeed a grave problem!" Holding Edwina by the shoulders, he shook her. "We must have it fixed right away! I shall escort you to Rizenbul!"

The girl stepped back. "It's ok, Major." She pointed at the male teenager. "Winter's right here so I don't need to go b—"

"Come now, don't be reserved," Armstrong said, slipping one arm around her shoulders and steering her towards the staircase.

"What? Why do we need to go Rizenbul for this? Major, what are you up to?"

"Ah, hello, Alphonsa Elric," the man greeted, letting the older Elric go and approaching the younger one. He pointed at the room behind them as he told her, "You stay here because you are conspicuous!"

"Eh…?" the girl had nothing to reply.

"Excellent. We'll arrange for the train immediately. Let's go Edwina Elric!" he lifted the blonde and tucked her under one arm like a sleeping bag. He hummed to himself as he carried her off.

"Going somewhere are you?"

The armour girl and blonde boy gave a shriek of fright at the voice right behind them before turning around.

"Ling?! Where'd you—"

"Through the window," the Xingese girl answered with her thump pointing to said object before the two could finish their unison question.

"I thought a State Alchemist would stay in a Milltary hotel. Ended up having to look all over for you."

"But why did you enter through a window?!" Alphonsa asked, her voice still slightly high.

Ling laughed. "Well, I guess I _am_ sort of like a criminal now."

In her mind, the younger Elric frowned. "Just _what _have you been doing while you were on your own?"

"Oh, just running around, avoiding the Milltary and police. But enough about that. I came here to ask the questions. And this time, and I will get my answers. Barry the Chopper told me all about you."

That made the Elric and Rockbell instantly fall silent, though the boy felt nervous for two reasons: the first the same as his friend, and the other about who this 'Barry the Chopper' was, as he certainly did not sound friendly.

In her office, Mustang was still chatting.

"Let's see. I can drop by the store tomorrow," she replied the charmed man on the other end.

"Oh, thank you!" he replied.

"And I need ask something from Kate too."

"Well, she's been working very hard lately. Just give a moment, Roya." the man's voice became slightly muffled as he turned away from the phone to call, "Kate! You've got a costumer!"

"Yes, sir!" came the response after a few minutes.

Mustang heard the slight crackling as Richard handed the phone, or rather, headphones, over.

"Yes?"

"Could you go get Jacqueline?" the soldier asked her.

"Of course." The woman turned to the clearly male figure sitting behind them, who was clad in a black t-shirt and trousers, a bulletproof vest, heavy black boots, a balaclava and a pair of protective fingerless gloves.

"Jacqueline…" 'Kate' returned to his normal voice before paused to listen. "We have a guest."

* * *

The man took a moment to reply, before cocking his gun. "Rodger that."

Falman, Barry, and Lan Fan's head whirled around as they stood at the crashing noise, the boy's mask-ropes whipping out due to the movement.

"What's wrong?" Falman asked as he looked around from the table.

"I feel…tingly," Barry said in a strangely soft manner.

"Nonsense," the solider replied with a roll of his eyes as he went to collect the steaming teapot. As his fingers closed around the handle, his nose twitched as it detected something foul. "What's that smell?"

Another crash directed everyone's attention to the window as something landed on the sill, clutching the drainpipe for balance. For a moment, everyone thought it was some kind of ape, judging from its stooped-over stance, but it was a human, a thin yet muscular human, wearing a broken iron mask and torn clothes, it's feet bare, teeth clenched and messy hair jutting out from behind the mask. It tiled its head in curiously for a moment before letting out a roar and launching itself at the nearest person – Falman. Dropping the teapot, he pulled the gun out of the back of his trousers. He was about to unload on the creature-like-human when Barry a hand on the barrel, pushing the weapon down, then putting up his other arm, holding his cleaver, to block the blow.

"Relax, Falman, I'll take care of him," Barry said calmly as he released the gun. He charged at the being. "You dare try to kill him! That's _my_ job!" He slashed the blade sideways, but the being simply jumped up and tackled him to the ground.

Falman raced into the hall, where Lan Fan now stood, a kunai in one hand. "Hey, I need back up!"

"There are more hostile presences coming here," the young guard replied, looking up at the ceiling.

"'More'?! How many—" Before he could finish the sentence, Barry and his opponent came crashing through the door, the being pinned the armour man to the ground. While Lan Fan back flipped out of the way and threw the knife-like weapon, the Warrant Officer fired several times at the being. Every bullet missed, but at least it gave the armour man enough time to wiggle free. Lan Fan quickly darted in and retrieved his weapon from the creature, surprised that despite it piercing where the heart was, it was still alive, albeit stunned.

"Hey, don't hit him, kid!" Barry snapped at the Xingese boy with a point of his cleaver before turning his head to Falman. "You too! He looks valuable, you know!"

"I can't hit him, anyway, he's too fast!" the grey-and-black haired man retorted. He glanced at the teenager, who was motionless apart from his darting eyes. "How many now?"

"Ten…twenty…now there's more than twenty, too many to count."

"You're kidding, right?!"

"I wish I were, sir."

"Damn, I don't have enough bullets! Once they charge in we're done for!"

Lan Fan shook his head. "Don't worry. They've gathered in one spot, but I detect no further movement."

The three of them looked back at the animalistic man as stood up on his hands and feet, growling and breathing heavily.

"In any case, we have to take of this…gorilla man," Falman intrusted, trying to calm himself but failing. However, as the three prepared to battle again, they heard the sound of metal hitting metal, and the Warrant officer turned just in time to see the dented lock fall off the door. "Ok, slight change of plan! You two take care of gorilla man and I'll try and hold off these guys."

He turned to the door, readying himself, the bodyguard and serial killer doing the same. However, the solider had not realised how close he was to the door and it stuck him as a booted foot kicked it open. "Ack!"

Regaining his composure, he was about to open fire but paused in confusion as the newcomer, a masked, black-clad, definitely human and military man, ignored him and fired his dual guns at the ape-man. Again, it dodged.

"What the…?" Falman said, subconsciously lowering his weapon.

"Back up?" Lan Fan asked with another swift turn of his head. The masked man nodded. "Your aura betrays you. But no matter…" in less than a second, he had leapt over Falman and the other man and was heading out the door. "I'll leave this to you."

"Hey!" the officer called after him. "I might need you to—" another smell filled his nostrils, though this one was more familiar. _Cigarette_ _ smoke?_ His nose followed it to the disguised male who was still trying to hit the growling human-creature, while Barry slashed and hacked, also missing. "Second Lieutenant Havoc?"

"Well, thanks!" Havoc said sarcastically. "Why the hell do you think I'm wearing a mask?!" He sighed. "This is what happens with men with little field experience."

"Sorry!" the lower-ranked man replied with a salute.

"Sorry we didn't keep you posted," Havoc explained over the _tzing_ of their still missing bullets hitting the floor. Barry, too, could still not land a hit. "I didn't want any potential enemies suspecting a trap."

"Where have you been standing by?!" the older officer demanded as they moved out into the floor hall, low on bullets, one of the disguised man's guns completely empty. He shoved it into his back pocket.

"The flat next door. Every day after work I had to come straight here! I had to cancel dates…if I get dumped again I'm filing for compensation!"

Falman noticed the armour man was not behind them. "Barry!" he called inside the almost destroyed house. "Come on!"

"Right!" came the hallow call. "I'll be right— wah!" The armour man was pinned to the ground again, the being hand's around his throat. As he reached with his cleaver-less but unpinned arm to shove him off, the creature grabbed the arm and with a few yanks a brutal twist, ripped it roughly off. "You bastard! You're gonna pay for…" his voice trailed off as he realised he was face to armour face with the ape-like human. _He's…?_

He felt the being suddenly fly off him and turned his head to the left to see the Second Lieutenant pulling his leg back.

"We'll go outside!" he informed the armour and Milltary man.

"R-right," Barry said while Falman nodded.

"Wait!" the Warrant Officer cried, moving in front of the two of them. "The Xingese boy sensed a lot more enemies outside. We could get overwhelmed!"

"Trust me, this is safer," said the smoker, placing a hand on the older man's shoulder before sliding around him.

While a shake of his head, Falman followed him and the serial killer. Once outside, they started heading down a back alley in at a run.

"Ok, seriously, what's that smell?" Havoc said suddenly.

"Um…" the lower-ranked man asked, before looking ahead again. "I think it might be him!"

Havoc also returned to looking head, seeing the gorilla-man jump down into their path from an adjacent roof, letting out a screech as it charged. Stopping in their tracks, Falman and Havoc opened fire while Barry readied himself. However, the blonde-brown's man's eyes widened in horror as he pulled the trigger for the six time, but nothing came out, even though the magazine held ten rounds. He looked down and saw a bullet sticking half-way out the top of the chamber. "Damn it! It's jammed!"

The being seemed to notice something was wrong, and with what seemed like a victorious cry, leapt at Havoc.

"Second Lieutenant!" Falman exclaimed in warning, raising his gun. The remaining two shots missed. Havoc readied himself, still feeling confident.

The older male jumped and looked around wildly as the ape-man was knocked of route by a bullet from above piercing his hand. Havoc kicked the creature to the ground, where it lay, writhing and holding its bleeding hand.

Barry felt a flash of anger, but he supposed it matched the hole in his armour.

"Relax…" the Second Lieutenant told Falman as he fixed the jam in the hand gun. "The Hawk's Eyes are watching over us."

Up on a balcony, the blonde First Lieutenant, wearing a short, tan cloak to better conceal himself, and a headset attached to a small radio, reloaded the sniper rifle.

"Richard, I just heard a loud noise. Is everything ok?"

"No problem," the man replied, looking through his scope again. "A customer was bothering Jacqueline, so I give them a little slap."

"Another hassle?" Mustang asked. "I guess, since the place is getting busy, I'll end this call?"

"That'd be a good idea. Don't you have lots to do as well?"

"Not so much, thanks to my excellent subordinates."

"You know," Fuery said to Black Hayate as he took another bite from his chocolate bar and adjusting the left dial to get rid of the latest static. "This is the first time I've heard your master being so talkative."

The dog was more interested in the sweet in the man's hand, not understanding it was poison to him.

Down in the alleyway, Falman had fixed his gun and was now pointing it at the ape-man, who was still expecting the blood on its hand. "Er…" he looked back at the other soldier and the armour man. "You think he can understand language?"

"I-I think it can…but I don't know because…because…" the killer pointed at the creature with his remaining arm, his eye-lights brighter in shock. "THAT'S MY BODY!"

"_What?!_" the officers yelled.

"They must've knocked a soul, a lab animal or something, in my body."

"I'm confused," the black-grey-haired man responded.

"Isn't it obvious?" Barry asked, his eyes now looking angry. "My body has come to get its soul back!"

"…I'm lost for what to do now," the masked man said with his firearm still aimed at the body.

"Another stupid question."

"Well, if that's your original body, then I guess you'll be wanting it ba—"

"_Which means,_" Barry cut across the Warrant Officer, before stretching out his arm and looking up at the sky. "_I can chop up my own body! In all the wide world there'll never be another man who can butcher his own flesh! _GEHEHEHEHEH!" The officers stared. "The first person I chopped up was my wife. A fine chick, almost too good for me. Just like that time, and when I met the Flame Colonel, my soul is getting all tingly. The body is calling to me so much! Chopping it would make me feel…just _complete!_ You see what I'm saying?" He turned to the men. "You don't, do you?"

"No, I don't!" the smoker regained his speech. "Besides, like the Warrant said, should you want to return to your body instead?"

Barry's eyes moved over his other self, looking at the cracked and bleeding skin, the yellowed nails and teeth, and imagining the brittle bones beneath.

_So I was right about the smell… _The closed-eyed man thought, though he knew it was meaningless.

"I can't let you do that," Havoc replied, tightening his grip on his gun.

"Why not?" the armour man retorted. "It's my body!"

"No! We have our reasons!"

"It's _mine. _Whatever I do with it is my business!"

"Looks like there's more trouble with another customer, the one who's been here longer."

"What kind of trouble?" Mustang asked.

"A fight, it looks like, between him, the first costumer, and Jacqueline. Vanessa is backing her up, though. If only these borderline-criminals didn't stay around so long. I don't like it one bit—" He heard movement behind him, heavy, lumbering steps. "Oh no. I'll need to call you back in a while. A guest of honour is here." Putting down the headset, Hawkeye spun around while remaining crouched, his fringe flying up for a moment as he fired the rifle at Gluttony, trying to control the long-range weapon's recoil. The bullet blasting a hole in the homunculus's head, out of which blood immediately poured. Hawkeye saw a fragment of skull fall, presumably from the exit wound, as the creature fell to the floor and as he reloaded again. However, he eyes widened in horror, and a unnoticed fear as the creature stood up again, blood running down its grinning face. Red lightning cracked around the both wounds and the blonde watched, frozen, as the front would (along with the back) was filled with regenerated flesh. Gluttony stood, looming over the sharpshooter, but still his body would not do as his brain commanded.

"Richard? Can you hear me?" The Flame Alchemist called down the phone as silence feel. "Hey!" A flash of that blood stained phonebox appeared before her eyes, followed by her friend's funeral, but her imagination warped it to her standing before two graves, the second baring her favourite subordinate's name along with a promotion to Major. Slamming the phone done and wrenching open her top draw, she grabbed her gloves and ran, leaving doors swinging in her wake.

On, another building very near Falman's flat, Lan Fan had found his target – Envy, who crouched on the metal roof. He landed before the creature in the typical, three-point-touch manner. It looked up with a jolt at the boy before narrowing his eyes. "…Who are you? How'd you instantly spot me like that?"

"The questions here is who are _you?_ And how many people are inside here?"

Envy shook its head and stood, letting the coat around its shoulders to drop to the roof. "…I was only here for monitoring…but I guess I have no choice…" Its eyes became wide and threatening as it grinned. "…but I'm really not a fan of fighting."

The young guard, his slight nerves hidden behind his hood and mask, reached behind his vest and drew out what appeared to be a small firework, before taking out a match and lighting it. He tossed it high, swirling into to air, and it exploded with a loud _bang_ a blinding light.

Down below, Mustang was just turning into the street in her car, gloved fingers gripping the steering wheel tightly. _Please let me make it in time!_

* * *

**Author's Note: Ok, dear readers, I may be over-thinking again, or annoying you again by pointing things out, but I just feel the need to do so or I feel I am being rude. If I did not make it clear by the way of those two soldiers outside the office, and you were wondering why I had Rizo's codename, Well 'Richard' even though original Mustang gave his male subordinates female name? Well, as Roya Mustang would be known as someone who likes the men, and due to, again, what the ideas of the time might be, she would want people to think she was gossiping with her friends, and flirting with their boss.**

**I also hope you got what I was hinting at with the Colonel imaging two graves *Laughs sheepishly*.**

**I tried to add more originality this time, so I hope it you enjoyed it, dear readers :).**

**Thank you ^_^.**


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34**

_**A Counterattack Signal**_

"My gosh…" the blonde boy gasped in horror.

"So, _that's_ why the Major took Nee-san," Alphonsa added, feeling both relieved and worried. "How come he didn't tell _me_ this?!"

The dark-haired young woman, who was sitting on the window with her shoes removed to relieve her aching feet, was no longer listening, her attention caught by a flash lighting up the sky a distance away. "It's started."

The Elric and Rockbell followed her line of sight.

"What's that? One of those firework-things?" Winter asked.

"It's based on them, yes," the girl said as she pulled on her shoes. "But it's actually a counterattack signal." Her expression became deadly serious as she stood up and checked her blade before looking back at the two Amestrians. "You two want to come along?"

The armour girl needed no thought. "Of course I am. I might be able to find out who killed Mr. Hughes. As we are responsible for his death, we have to see this this through to the end. I'm sure Nee-san is thinking the same."

"Well…good luck to both of you," Winter said, trying to keep his voice level.

"Thanks," Alphonsa replied.

"Yes, thank you, kind gentleman," Ling also said, a small smile appearing on her face to reassure him.

He turned to face the armour girl. "Tell me all about it when you come back, ok?"

"Ok," she responded.

"You will…come back…right?"

The younger Elric took one of his hands and squeezed it gently. "I promise."

The Xingese girl hopped out the window and waited for the Armour girl to join her via the stairs. Winter watched them until they turned the corner before walking over the couch and slumping down onto it, his hands clasped. Even though he was used it now, he again felt like this was the most dangerous thing the girls had ever done. He almost felt like praying.

* * *

"Has everything been taken care of, yet?" Father asked as his only 'daughter' as she walked over to his throne, one hand under his chin in thought.

"I still haven't heard from them," the woman replied. "But I'm sure they'll successfully pinpoint the rat's hideout." She smiled. "After all, body and soul attract one another."

"I don't want any failures," the man replied.

"Don't worry. I sent Envy and Gluttony on the mission. They shouldn't let you down."

* * *

Envy fell to the ground again, blood bursting from the wound as the kunai buried itself deep into the middle of its forehead. For a few moments, it lay there, motionless. Lan Fan jumped away, hoping this time it was over as he was getting tired. But the creature stood again.

"Gaaargh!" Envy screamed as it reached up and ripped the knife-like weapon from its forehead. "That's the _third_ time! Damn him! Damn him! Damn! Him!" it jumping off of the building into the back alley, noticing civilian heads turning in its direction. _I know…_ with a flash, the creature transformed into a brown-haired, blue-eyed man. _Heh, now I blend right in with these worthless creatures! I'll get him from behind! _It turned another corner and spotted the boy up on a roof, surveying the area. _Got you._ Jumping onto the roof, it stalked silently towards the young warrior.

However, at the last moment, the bodyguard turned his head and extended an arm. Envy felt a sharp pain in its chest and looked down. The kunai was embedded there. "How the hell…?"

In the alleyway near Falman's flat, Hawkeye was losing hope. He had managed to pull his handgun out before Gluttony had locked his hands around his throat and lifted him up, but no matter how many times he shot, the homunculus just healed and continued grinning as he slowly tightened his grasp. The soldier's vision was betting blurry and the pistol clicked emptily. He could no long hold the weapon and it fell from his hand to the floor with a clatter as his arm went slack.

"That's it? You're done?" Gluttony asked in an almost innocent tone, licking his lips. "I can eat you now? Ok."

He opened his mouth wide and for a moment the blonde man saw the Ouroboros on his tongue before he squeezed his eyes shut. _I'm sorry, Ma'am, but I think I'm going to join Brigadier General Hughes …_

A low growl sounded to his right as a black-and-white fur ball latched its jaws onto Gluttony's shoulder. He yelped and dropped Hawkeye in surprise, before trying to shoo off the canine as it dug its teeth deeper.

"Go away!" he yelped, swatting his hands.

For a moment, Hawkeye lay there, gasping for air, before sitting up and blinking the blurriness away while moving his arms to get the feeling back. "Hayate?" was he could say as he watched the furious creature rip and tear the Gluttony's flesh.

"First Lieutenant, catch!"

The blonde looked behind him to see Fuery run out from building onto the balcony. He tossed his extra gun to the older officer and he caught it, before standing up and moving next to the Sergeant. Seeming to know what was going to happen; Black Hayate released the creature and ran behind the men.

"Tonight, I'm giving you a nice steak for saving my life, boy," Hawkeye told his pet before he and Fuery prepared to open fire as Gluttony turned the quarter of a circle to face them. The soldiers pumped the triggers to the pistols until the magazines were empty, puncturing the charging creature all over his round stomach and chest, causing him to stumble back with yelps of pain, but their feeling of victory was replaced frustration when Gluttony grinned again as he healed. "Out of bullets?" he asked. Fuery felt sweat form on his brow. "Ok, bon appetit!" He ran at them, tongue lolloping out of one side of his mouth. Unknowingly, the two officers backed away, eyes moving to the arch leading to the building behind them.

An arm shooting a thin but powerful stream of fire had the men leaping instinctively apart. The steam hit the homunculus right in the chest, knocking him flying and screaming off the balcony, the wooden barrier cracking under his weight. The officers rotated on their heel to see the Flame Alchemist lowering her arm, her expression almost frightening.

"C-Colonel, you shouldn't have come here!" Hawkeye cried, surprised at how obvious his fear was. "But thank you."

"Yeah, thanks, Ma'am," Fuery added with a small smile.

Down below, a healed and de-transformed Envy was landing on the rubble that had fallen in the younger Homunculus's wake. "Shit. I'm gonna rip that boy's head—" It looked up at a increasing screaming noise. At first, it thought it was another piece of smoking rubble, but as it drew closer: "Gluttony? What're you doing?! I need help down—" its eyed widened as it realised the creature was falling straight towards them. The plump man landed with a loud crash, just missing Envy, who had been frozen for reasons it did not know.

"You idiot!" the wispy-haired homunculus shrieked as he looked at the smouldering lump. "How the hell did you get yourself barbecued like this?"

The younger being could only groan in response as he began to heal.

"Crap…We need to retreat and reorganise ourselves." Getting down on its hands and knees, the older homunculus transformed into a golden Labrador and pelted away.

No sooner had it ran into the next street when Lan Fan landed in front of it.

"Changing your form is useless," the black-clad bodyguard informed it, his kunai raised and ready.

_What the hell?_ The shapeshifter thought, panic setting in. _I don't get it! How can he tell?!_

"The signal was for a dog attack?" The opponents looked around to see Alphonsa and Ling slowing from a run to them. "Really, Lan Fan, you're getting too paranoid."

Envy let out a howl and the female teenagers jumped as Lan Fan threw the kunai into the creature's eyes.

"What the _hell_ are you doing, hurting an innocent—" the younger Elric stopped as lightening cracked around the creature and changed back into the wispy-haired, feminine-yet-muscular-bodied form. She spotted the Ouroboros tattoo as the homunculus huffed in pain as it lay on its hands and knees, pulling the weapon from its eye and trying to blink away the pouring blood from the broken pupil.

"You…" Envy hissed, its good eye focused on the masked boy, who had moved beside his boss. "I'm going to make you scream in pain…" that eye moved around to look at the two female teenagers. "I'll crush all of you!" The healing began.

"What an unusual body compulsion…" Ling said to herself with a thoughtful frown as the she watched the eye regenerate.

Just as the fourth oldest Homunculus was regaining that lost sight, another loud and familiar _crash _sent dust puffing up behind it.

"I'm baaack!" Gluttony said in a sing-song voice before moving up behind Envy, a delighted look on his face as he saw the trio standing before them. Hid tongue hung out in hunger. "Envy, can I have them?"

"Yeah! Shallow 'em whole!" the older creature commanded, causing the other to prepare to jump.

"What _are_ these creatures?" Ling asked. "They both have that strange symbol and marked, black clothing..."

"They are the same being…but what being I don't know…" Lan Fan explained.

"They don't die even when you deliver a killing blow."

"Doesn't that mean…"

The Xingese teenagers grinned almost evilly as they chorused, "Immortals?"

The three fighters leaped in opposite directions as the plump man threw himself at them, which caused him to land where they had been with a momentarily disappointed look on his face.

"I have a plan!" Ling called to the other girl and the boy. They rounded a corner to listen.

"What was that fatso?" Fuery asked as he noticed the dust and derby that plumed a few streets away before turning back. "Are you hurt, First Lieuten—"

"YOU ARE AN IDIOT!"

Fuery jumped at the rarity that was Hawkeye losing his temper and Black Hayate run behind him, fearing he was the one being shouted at.

"_You should have stayed behind no matter what happen to us! Now our enemies will associate you with us!_" Hawkeye shouted as he jabbed a finger in her face. _And I would have been happy to die if it meant you lived…_

"Fine, fine! I'm an idiot!" Mustang shouted back. "But you know I can't just let you die on my behalf!"

"Uh…" Fuery said, taking a nervous step forward while pointing down into the street, having taken out his binoculars as something had caught his attention. "The target is getting away."

The still arguing twosome stopped, standing there for a few moments before walking over to the edge of the balcony to look down at Barry's body, which was being chased by its owner.

"That's right, run back to your nest…" the Flame Alchemist muttered to herself, though she did not notice the amour man. She turned her attention to the younger officer. "Sergeant, withdraw now! Don't leave even a speck of evidence behind."

"Yes, Ma'am!"

"First Lieutenant, you're with me."

The sharpshooter pointed at Black Hayate. "Hayate, stay! Stay with the Sergeant!"

As the two descended the stairs, Hawkeye spoke again. "Ma'am…thank you for saving me."

"You're welcome," the woman replied, hiding her surprised at the softness of his tone. "And I'm sorry I worried you."

They walked out to the street and to the car, and Mustang drove the short distance to where Havoc and Jean stood, not knowing what to do.

"Where's the target?" Mustang asked Havoc as she stopped.

"Down in the next street. Barry went after it." He wanted to question why she was here, but now it was not important.

She looked at the other man. "Falman, pretend to be a victim. Say that you've been locked up by the attacker."

"Again?" the man said in a voice akin to an upset child. "Yes, Ma'am…"

She returned to looking at the black-clad Second Lieutenant. "Havoc, get in, we're going after the target."

As the smoker closed the door and the woman put her foot back on the accelerator, they all heard a much younger voice call, "Colonel!"

Said woman leaned out of the window to see the armour girl running towards the car.

"Alphonsa? What are you doi—"

The Warrant Officer sigh in frustration as Alphonsa spoke to the other alchemist. "This is related to Hughes' case, isn't it?"

"I believe so," the older alchemist replied. "Are you coming?"

The image of Maria Ross's ashen body was still fresh in her mind. "Yes!" She squeezed in next to Havoc (the man almost pressed against the door) and Mustang slammed down on the accelerator, ignoring the confused civilian faces they whizzed by. Once they were in the same street as Barry and had drawn up next to him, the raven-haired woman leaned out of the window again to tell him. "Don't lose sight of him!"

"Like hell I will!" the man replied, glee clear in his voice. "He can't hide from me. And soon he'll get tired…Geh heh heh, my soul is tingly, I think I'm getting high!"

"He's heading towards the city centre," the sharpshooter said, returned to his calm, serious demeanour as he reloaded Fuery's extra pistol.

"Shit…" the blonde smoker hissed, he and the armour girl pausing their squirming for a moment to listen.

"Right. Obviously, it won't be good if this draws attention to us." The commanding officer stated. "So, we're going to have to get—"

The armour girl and black-clad should quietly gasped, but it was loud enough in the car.

"Err, Colonel, we just saw a slender person with black hair run by on one of the roofs."

"They had that Ouroboros tattoo," Alphonsa continued for him. "I run into him before, at the fifth laboratory. If memory serves me correct, his name is Envy. And I met another one called Greed, Envy's comrade, I think, in the south. They are homunculi."

"Holy crap!" Barry yelled as the car wavered on the road as Mustang's hands slid on the wheel, causing other two sets of human eyes to widen, the armour man narrowly avoiding being hit. "Watch it, sweetheart! I'm the one who's supposed to be killing you!"

"Sorry," the Colonel replied, unthinking, gripping the steering wheel tightly again as she gritted her teeth for a moment. "Homunculi?! I've been an alchemist for just over twenty years, and that's not poss—"

"'There is no such thing as no such thing'. Those were Greed's words," the teenager said, her voice deadly serious. "Just before I came to you, I say Envy transform from a dog to a man. Greed's destroyed head repaired in a matter of seconds. Both of them showed incredible regenerative ability. I saw these with my own eyes and I thought I was seeing things at first, but I know there were very real. If you don't believe me, Colonel, just wait and see for yourself."

"I believe you," Hawkeye replied. "I was attacked by a big one earlier, hungry for human flesh, and he must have been one of them as even my most fatal shots had little effect other than slowing him down. He had that Ouroboros tattoo the Colonel taught me about on his tongue."

"I don't think I've seen that one, but judging from your description, and theme that seems to be going on, I'd say that was one called Gluttony."

"God…" the Flame Alchemist hissed with her teeth clenched again. "It's the ultimate freak show."

She followed Barry until they lost sight of his body, but the killer assured the officers and teenager that he could still track him, due to their obvious connection. Soon, Mustang found herself pulling up to a large building in a quiet street.

"You're sure he went in there?" the onyx-eyed woman asked as the four of them followed the armour man around the building, looking for a way in.

"I'm positive," Barry replied.

"The Third Laboratory…" the woman again murmured to herself. "How expected…that that thing running in a military facility…oh well, since alchemist research institutes _are_ under the direct control of the Führer, this could be a great way to blackmail the higher ups. I could get my promotion even quicker…" She returned her voice to its commanding level. "Ok, we've located a hideout, which is good progress. Let's head back."

"Geh heh heh, you kidding?! I'm so close!" the killer was off, smashing through the gate like it was not even there as he run down the dark path towards the building, his cleaver raised and glinting dimly.

Havoc shook his head. "Damn him! He's completely lost it!"

_Well, lost it as much as a serial killer who shows his love of strong women by cutting them up, those feelings being strongest for the Colonel, and who even wants to slice up his own body can be…_

"How convenient…" Mustang said, that serious frown having returned.

"Please don't tell me you're planning something," the smoker almost begged.

"Geh heh heh heh!" Barry cackled as he run through a busy corridor, knocking over trays of vials and pushing surprised scientists and security personal alike out of his way.

"Outta my way!" he yelled at the men and women as he shoved them. "I don't give a crap about your bodies!" He turned down another corridor and found it empty. He slowed to a walking, feeling the body was close. "Where are you, my precious flesh?" he asked in a sing-song voice. "You can hide from me; my soul will lead my straight to you."

He did not hear the gunshot Mustang order Hawkeye to fire upwards as the group strode though the busy corridor he had just been in.

"Attention, everyone!" the Colonel said in a loud voice, though not as loud as to be considered shouting. "A wanted killer has entered the building! All staff evacuate immediately!"

She did not see the Second Lieutenant shaking his head.

"What is the matter?!" the highest ranked security officer asked as he came upon the scene, immediately saluting the still higher-ranked woman.

"The homicidal maniac who attacked the west prison has broken in!" she explained to him having decided to be more specific as they moved past him. "We'll take care of him! Your men should block off all the entries and exits and guard them!"

"Yes, Ma'am!" the leader said. "But should we ask for re-enforcements?"

"I already did!" the woman replied as the foursome broke into a run.

"When did you make a call?" Alphonsa asked as the run into the next corridor been in and heading towards the trail of destruction up a flight of stairs.

"I lied," Mustang replied. "We don't need anyone else getting involved, for obvious reasons."

They reached the top of the stairs to be greeted by a padlocked gate leading into a tunnel. Hawkeye took a moment more to check behind him before joining the others.

"Well, there's no way any of us are getting this off," Havoc said as he explained the thick chain.

Smiling inwardly and knowingly, Alphonsa gently moved him to the side before placing her hands on the chains. One heating transmutation was all it took to break the chain.

"Oh, I forgot about that…" the smoker said sheepishly as he and the teenager opened the gate and they proceeded into the tunnel, which was dimly lit by flickering lights, the only sound apart from their footsteps being the dripping of a leaky pipe. They looked around at both of the dark ends of the tunnel.

"Which way could he have gone…?" Mustang was again muttering to herself, her voice echoing slightly.

"We could split up in pairs," the sniper suggested.

"Yes, good idea," his superior replied, nodding. "You go with Alphonsa then, and the Second Lieutenant will go with me." He did not know why, but said man felt pleased that he was going with the Colonel. "If you find Barry, don't pursue to far, just try to trap him. If you don't, just gather a reasonable amount of information and retreat."

"Yes, Ma'am," Hawkeye replied, giving a single nod.

They set off in the opposite directions, Hawkeye and Alphonsa to the left, Mustang and Havoc to the right.

"First Lieutenant," the armour girl spoke up as they walked, her voice sounding even more hallow as it bounced off the damp walls. "I feel like I'm a bit useless here. I mean, as I said, I only came here because I thought this would have someone to do with the Brigadier General's death, so…I felt a bit useless."

"Now, now," the blonde man replied kindly after stopping and turning around. "Of course you are useful. You just opened that lock, for example. I could need your alchemy for something else." As he spoke, he patted the pointing-out part of the girl's chest plate in a reassuring manner. "Something out of my control might happen, as well, and then I'll be counting on you to get us out of it. Really, you underestimate yourself sometimes. You're not your sister's shadow."

If she had a human body right now, the teenager knew she would be blushing. "Ah…ok!"

In the meantime, the other soldiers had found themselves in an old prison after walking through a gap in the wall.

"The atmosphere here is brutal," Havoc said as he looked around while pulling up his balaclava with one hand to get a better view and because his head was beginning to itch. The Colonel was only half-listening, trying the rotting wooden and rusting metal doors. On the sixth try, she opened a wooden door only for it to fall half off its hingles with a creak as it opened. Havoc, seeing the back off her uniform disappearing into the room, followed her. They found themselves walking through a dirty, dingy, dusty laboratory, blood and god knows what else spattered and littered the floor, and test tube, flasks and tripod and other equipment still lay on the tables.

"The place looks even older than the other labs and the cells," the Flame Alchemist observed before something caught her eye: an operating table with leather straps sitting in the corner, also flecked with dried up blood. "I doubt any of the experiments done in this place where ethical."

"Not only did those idiots fail to end your lives but they also allowed an intrusion to happen…" spoke a smooth, sensual voice.

The Colonel and Second Lieutenant moved subconsciously closer, as the man raising the pump-action shotgun he had found in the car and the woman drew out her handgun from her pocket and raised it, deciding this was one of those rare times to forgo alchemy. For the man, the voice was familiar, but he could remember from where.

"Looks like we underestimated you guys…" From out of the dimness of the other far corner, her black clothing concealing her well, Lust walked forward, her heels clicking on the floor.

For a moment the dark-blonde's eyes widened as it stuck him where he knew heard the voice.

"How rude…you stood me up to come to a place like this. I was wondering what you were up to." Lust stopped a few feet in front of the soldiers, folded her arms and mustered the annoyed look of a spurned woman. "I missed you, Jean."

"Why are you here, Solaris?" the male soldier asked, feeling both nervous and confused.

"_She's_ that 'new girlfriend' you talked about?" the female solider demanded to know. "But look, she has an Ouroboros!"

"…I just noticed that too," the man replied sheepishly, his eyes moving up back up the rather revealing dress.

"I apologise for deceiving you. It was for some information gathering," the homunculus continued, now trying to sound genuine.

Mustang shook her head. "…now I see it. You were so easily deceived because you like buxom women. I'm also guessing that's the only reason you like serving under me."

"Yes…" Havoc stared at the floor in shame, his cheeks reddening. "I like bosomy women! B-But, while it was only the _initial_ reason I liked being your subordinate, I saw that you were a good solider with great leadership qualities too."

"And yet you seem to have an attitude whenever I order you to do something you don't like, even though you are one of my most trusted subordinates."

"Well, you're always giving me the rubbish jobs, I'm better for stuff like this!"

"Well, tough. We all must do things we don't like sometimes. Back to the main topic. Did you tell this wo— no, _creature,_ anything?"

"Nothing about work."

Lust shook her head. "You both are so rude. That's right. Nothing you spilled was useful for me. You didn't even complain about your superior here." She smiled in amusement for a moment.

"I'm not an idiot. I know to keep my work separate from my private life."

"Solaris…" Mustang began, only for the other female to cut her off.

"Please," she said with another amused smirk. "That name is just an alias. Call me—"

"Do you know Brigadier General Maes Hughes?"

Lust closed her eyes in thought. "I sure did. Very sharp guy. He was quite the man indeed." The smirk became taunting as she opened her now hardened eyes again. "I regret I wasn't able to finish him off." Lust's eyes widened as a bang broke the tense atmosphere and felt a stab of pain, before looking down in surprise at the bullet hole in her dress and leg.

"On your knees," Mustang said threateningly, enraged yet calm at the same time. "Confess everything you know."

Havoc could only stand, his eyes expanded again, as he watched the situation unfold.

"I don't think so," the female homunculus replied bluntly as she slowly stood from the crouching position the bullet had forced her into, the wound and her dress healing in seconds. "You people will never make me kneel."

Her body was punched backwards again as a bullet went through her chest and head. She managed to pull back on of her feet to catch herself before she topped over, and now stood hunched as the new wounds repaired. Despite the pain, she laughed, a soft, disturbing laugh. "How merciless." She looked at the female officer. "You really are the hero of Ishval."

"Y-you really are a homunculus…" the dark-blonde man managed.

At once, the woman's face became that sickeningly sweet express she wore on their dates. "My, you really aren't as stupid as I thought, Jean. Let me show you something." Havoc's stomach turned but Mustang, who had seen far worse, simply watched as the woman extended her nails to draw a scalpel-thin cut just under her Ouroboros, before using her fingers to widen the cut into a gaping hole. "Can you see it?"

Both of the soldiers' eyes widened as they saw the pulsing, glowing red stone within the woman's chest, right where a human heart would have been, but with much more nerves attached to it.

"That's right. It's the Philosopher's Stone. The legendary item, the greatest amplifier of alchemical power." She let the cut heal again. "Humans that are created with that stone as the nucleus. That's us."

"Freak. You are all freaks of nature! Violations of life!" the female officer said again through clenched teeth, her grip on the gun tightening just like the on the wheel.

"Again with the rudeness," Lust scolded lightly with another shake of her head. "Our appearance is no different from yours. We have all five senses, emotions, and affection for the parent who created us. We _are_ humans." Her eyes were hard again.

"Hah, I guess revealing your top secret means you don't intend on leaving us alive?" the Colonel asked, with her subordinate, still speechless, frowned.

"Homunculi themselves are the top secret, so for you to be here, whatever you're looking for must be extremely confidential to us. Father would punish me for not doing something. I'll admit that, like your best friend, I am impressed with how far you've come, but I must kill you."

"Havoc, this a matter of life and death, so forget about this creature's appearance! She's nothing more than an obstacle!"

"Man…I sure have little luck with women…" the man mumbled, but braced himself anyway. Both were about to fire but Lust, not even having to move, extended her nails and slashed. The officers managed to avoid any physical damage, but Mustang growled in frustration as the gun fell apart in her hands, sliced lengthwise in half. Throwing the useless piece of metal away, she quickly pulled one of her gloves and put it on. "Havoc, back me up!"

"Got it!" Taking a few steps backwards, the dark-blonde man adjusted his aim.

Mustang was about to turn the woman into another pile of ash, but she raced forward, having the speed and agility of a cheetah, dodging Havoc's blasts as she taunted, "Too late!" and sliced open a pipe above the woman. The alchemist could not suppress a yelp as freezing water drenched her to the skin.

Lust stepped back again to admire her work as the woman looked down at her soaked glove. "Too bad you can't use your favourite fire trick when your ignition is wet, Ms. Mustang."

Shaking her sticking hair out of her eyes, the dark-haired officer barely had time to catch her breath before the both of them were leaping to the side again, but not without painfully hitting the floor face first. Using the dust as cover, they had the same idea and headed out of the door before the homunculus could strike a fourth time.

As they stood on either side, Havoc asked, "What now? She just seems like she wants to torture us to death!"

"Boy, did I underestimate those beings…" the woman hissed through her clenched teeth again, pulled out and donning her other glove after having shook the excess drops off her hand, her expression changing to a concentrating grimace. "However, I can turn this situation to our advantage." The Second Lieutenant looked at her, feeling sceptical. "Water means hydrogen. I can transmute this highly flammable gas as much as I want."

Havoc smiled as he thought, _Alchemists really ARE geniuses._ He pulled his lighter as the woman placed her hand on the water steeping through the door, and once the lightning had died down, he threw the lighter and the Colonel clicked her fingers as it flew by. Both could barely get out of the way and clamp their hands over their ears as a _boom_ ignited the room, the force throwing around and incinerating the old equipment, the flames also licking and burning the walls and ceiling, leaving it with patches of black.

The dark blonde man just stared in awe at the smoking remains of the room. Lust, who had been casually walking towards to the door with a victorious smile, was gone.

"This is _my_ field," Mustang told her subordinate proudly.

"Ah, jeez…" Havoc said, as he spotted the lighter, walked in and picked it up. Mustang followed, admiring her work.

"One of my exes gave me this as a gift," the blue-eyed man went on as he looked at the dented, signed but still dripping object. He popped a celebratory cigarette between his teeth and flicked the lighter, but the only reaction was a puff of smoke. "Ah, shit, it would light up." He looked behind him. "Hey, Colonel, could you spare me a light— oh wait, you can't."

"Don't you _dare_ call me a wet matchstick!" the woman yelled at him.

Havoc laughed, replying, "You sound like Edwina with the short or flat jokes. Anyway…" the Second Lieutenant looked around for any sign of the homunculus. "You think she burned to death?"

The raven-haired soldier walked around, her eye scanning and scrutinising. "She was either burnt or blown to pieces…" her eyes and nose caught something. "She was burnt." Havoc walked over to her and followed her gaze, but still did not understand. "How can you tell?"

"When a human or animal burns, the body lipid disperses in the air." The woman was rubbing her chin in thought again. "If a newly roasted body is nearby, the skin around your lips becomes sticky from the greasy fat."

"Oooh…experience gained from Ishval, huh?"

"…The corpse is close," Mustang replied. "We shouldn't take that regenerative power lightly. Stay on guard."

Havoc unhooked the shotgun from his belt and moved closer to his superior again as they walked. Then Mustang a sharp sound like flesh and bone being pieced, followed by splattering and choking. She spun around on her heel just in to see Havoc crumple the ground, his mouth open in a silent yell of pain as blood oozing out of two holes in the front of his chest as Lust, like a grotesque imitation of a phoenix seemed to reform around her nails from her ashes. All the Colonel could do was scream his name before falling to her knees next to him.

"Havoc, please don't!" She felt anger and fear, fear that another person close to her would die, especially as this time she could prevent it.

"C-C'mon!" Havoc breathed as he managed to get on his hands and knees. "M-my luck with woman…really sucks!"

Lust, almost fully reformed, slowly withdrew her fingers as she leaned stepped behind the woman and whispered in her ear, "Don't threat. You can't save him. Just focus on mourning…"

The woman turned around again, but the homunculus was not faced her expression, which was full as much fury as the fire she produced.

"You're wrong," the Flame Alchemist hissed, and aimed the shotgun she had picked up as she turned. It was Lust's turn to gurgle as the round ripped through her chest. However, she smiled nonetheless.

"It's useless!" she said with a laugh much like Envy's. "There's still a long way before I die. There's no way to save your fri—" This time, she let out the silent scream, her eyes wide as the female officer dove her gloved hand into her chest and took a hold of her Philosopher's Stone.

"This is the way I'll save him," Mustang continued that dangerously low voice, pinning the other woman to the floor as started a transmutation, burning through the many nerves holding it in place. Lust screamed, but the other female ignored it as she began wrenching the object free. "Your regenerative power has convinced me that the Philosopher's Stone indeed amplifies the effects of transmutations. With one final twist, she extracted the object and let the still screaming homunculus go. She only saw the beginnings of her body turning to dust, the screams fading, as she turned and run back to her subordinate, who now lay still. Another wave of fear washed over her. She from the smooth stone to the man and back again.

"Alchemical healing is out of my domain," she muttered to herself, but with the stone enhancing my power…" Her thoughts were interrupted with the crackling of lightning, and the stone suddenly felt much heavier. She looked back at it, and for a moment her eyes expanded in shock. Just like with the ashes, Lust was reforming around the stone. She could see the bones, muscles and skin retuning, the rips forms around her hand, trapping it.

"Even if you are a lady, isn't it rude to stick your hands in-between a woman's breasts?" the other woman said in that dangerously calm voice. Before the Flame Alchemist could react, she felt a sharp pain, and looked down only able to watch as the regenerated nails slid through the lift side of her stomach with ease, and through her back, narrowly missing her spine. But it was still enough. Her hand loosened and went limp as she fell backwards onto the floor.

* * *

**Author's Note: Hmm…I still don't think I added enough original content. And I'm sorry this was another one that was late, albeit not as much as other late posts.**

**BTW, writing scenes where Rizo is fatherly towards the Elrics is another of my favourites. I just think he would be like that as he knows the girls grew up without a father, and so shows his warm side most prominently with them (and soon, the Colonel too).**

**Once again, there may be more mistakes than usual because I just wanted to get this out before you started getting annoyed.**

**As always, I hope you enjoy it regardless.**

**Thank you ^_^.**


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35**

_**The Sacrificial Lamb**_

"I wonder if Colonel Mustang is ok…" one of the two backup soldiers, an early-twenties blonde man asked aloud as silence fell in the building. Night had arrived a few hours ago. "Couldn't we just take a look?"

"Stop being so impatient," his superior, standing on the other side of the gate, replied. "Being a soldier isn't always about running around shooting stuff. Besides, we can't anyway, as the Colonel gave us a direct order." The slightly gruff-looking man looked around at the evacuees and soldiers who were standing around and looking bored or concerned.

"Yeah, but she asked for re-enforcements…"

The older man looked down the road at the sound of a car turning into the street. "Speak of the devil, here she comes now."

But the person who stepped out when the vehicle pulled up had boredom change to surprise in an instant.

"Y-your Excellency?!" the older of the two gate-guards yelped before feeling ashamed by how high his voice was as he and his subordinate saluted.

"I heard there was an intruder," Bradley said in his solemn tone as he walked towards the building with his hands behind his back as usual, the other man following him while the people in the courtyard either stared or muttered amongst themselves.

"Yes, sir. The culprit of the West Prison attack is in there! Colonel Mustang is after him!"

"I see. Well then, I'm going in to help her out."

"Please wait, Sir!" the blonde said cried, moving in front of the Führer with his hands raised. "The Colonel ordered re-enforcements! The others will be arriving soon. There's no need for you to—"

The sound of metal dragging against metal silenced him.

"I'll be fine by myself," he told the two men, just to make sure, before walking as calmly into the building, sword at his side.

* * *

The armour girl and sharpshooter jumped at hearing growling and slashing sounds, before remembering what it came from. They pressed themselves against the wall before inching towards the corner and looking down the next hall.

"Barry must have gone this way…" Hawkeye said. "Let's go slowly."

They headed into the darkness of the corridor, staying close.

In the lab, Mustang could only lay there, pain pulsing and blood seeping out of the wounds on her side, dying her clothes and mixing with the dried blood on the floor as Lust stood over her. "Didn't you hear me say the Philosopher's Stone is the nucleus?" the much older female asked, descending into a kneeling position next to her victim, her lips always in that taunting smirk. "Our existence is closer to the truth than you humans are." Lust's face was inches away from the State Alchemist, and she wanting so much to burn that smile right off her face, but could only find the strength to twitch. "Let's put it this way…we homunculi are a new evolved from of mankind." The Colonel could only stare daggers at her. "Please understand…" The long-haired woman's tone was almost apologetic as she reaching out and removed the woman's remaining glove and cut it to shreds in an instant. "I didn't _want_ to kill a potential human sacrifice like you, or Jean, for that matter, but I can't let you go now that you are involved so deeply." The female creature stood up, ignoring the fact that the other female found the strength to roll onto her stomach with a gasp and began attempting to get onto her hands and knees. "Now, I'll need to get rid of the other trespassers. Can't have them find you two or finding out as much as you have." She walked away.

"Why you…" she heard the younger woman hiss.

As she reached the door, Lust her head turned back. "Oh, and this time, you can _watch_ one of your officers die. And join all of them when you die. Or maybe, you'll go first. Either way, Father will be happy."

The woman ignored her and looked over at the still Second Lieutenant. "Havoc, you're _not_ going to die before me!" _Why does everyone die before me…?_ She added in her head.

The First Lieutenant and the younger alchemist found themselves in a large crisp white room after finding a door at the end of the corridor. Their attention was immediately drawn to two large stone doors at the end of the room, their necks craning to take it all in. For Alphonsa, it had a horrible similarity to the door kept by the Truth.

"What took you so long, sir?"

The two jumped at voice before recognising it as Barry. They looked down to see him standing over his motionless body, both it and his cleaver blood-stained. As well as chopping it, he had gouged out its eyes. Rizo clamped his nostrils shut at that also familiar, but still horrible smell that was decaying flesh. "Sorry about the smell." His eyes flicked over to Alphonsa for a moment, as he thought: _Well, well, it's the piggy…I wonder if she still thinks she's human… _before returning to his body. "Just look at my fleshy body. It's rotten so much…" He glanced at the younger Elric again, his voice becoming low. "Fixing a different soul to my body must have caused instability. They are still two separate beings, so it isn't a surprise that they repelled each other."

_He's really right this time…_ Alphonsa thought to herself, panic rising in her subconscious. _I'm a human soul in a body of iron. My soul could reject it any time…I just hope that when the time comes my own body doesn't reject me…_

Hawkeye sensed something was wrong from the girl's silence.

* * *

Ling and Lan Fan were continuing the skirmish without the armour girl.

Lan Fan had leapt on to another rooftop to look for the smaller immortal, and the creature finally thought it had the upper hand when it tackling him from the side - that was until the flat roof broke and they fell through, still wrestling on the way down.

"Ack," the servant hissed, his grip on Envy's throat loosening for a moment as he reached up to wipe the tears, but that moment was all it took. He felt a sharp tuck that and looked down to see the homunculus gripping one tied end of the wrap around his waist.

"Finally…I got you!" the dark-haired creature declared. Startled, Lan Fan tried to the upper hand by bracing himself on the floor of the room, but was again distracted when they crashed through that as well. At that moment, the boy's reflexes kicked in. He threw the Dao held at his waist at the creature, impaling it downwards through its chest (cutting between two ribs and causing Envy to growl again, this time in both frustration and pain). As they both landed on the underground floor, the bodyguard bracing himself with his legs in a frog-like stance, he grabbed the sword handle and swiftly drew the blade up and out, cutting through the other dark-haired being's entire torso, stopping just below its collar. It tried to yell, but instead gargled on blood filling its mouth before falling to its knees.

"_Lan Fan!_"

The boy immediately looked around up as his mistress dropped down though the holes, Gluttony right behind her, his mouth open with saliva dripping out.

"_Give my sword back!_"

"Of course, My Lady!" the young warrior yelped, and tossed the weapon back.

"Thank you!" The other warrior replied as she caught it by the hilt before rotating on her heel and charging at Gluttony. As she suspected, he lunged at her, yelling, "A meal that comes to me! Oh good!" and as the plump being reached her, she ducked, raised her sword and run forwards, giving an almighty slash from the creature's skull to its crotch, her knees bend and her hand on the blunt edge of the blade to steady it. The being began splintering in half like a chopped tree and the Xingese woman was not expecting him to recover from this. As soon as he realised what had happened, Gluttony clamped his hands to his head and pushed the halves together before the healing closed him up again.

Ling watched with an annoyed sigh. "I've had enough of fighting these guys."

Her servant nodded, replying, "Me too."

The young woman pointed her sword the two black-clad beings and said. "Won't you just surrender already? We won't harm you anymore if we don't have a reason to do so."

Now also repaired, Envy stood up, its silted eyes moving towards the smashed piece of floor. It saw a group of curious people peering through at them, waiting for what would happen next. "Gluttony, there's more of them."

"They look so tasty and easier to chew then them…" the plump man said dreamily as he followed his 'sibling's' gaze.

"No need to chew…just swallow them whole."

The Xingese duo looked at each other.

"I don't think they're ever going to surrender. I think they are using the onlookers as a way to distract us," Ling said.

"Nonetheless, we surely need to defend them," Lan Fan suggested.

"Of course. Let's—"

"Gluttony, Envy, just _what_ do you think you are doing?"

The teenagers looked around for the voice's source. It was a deep, dark tone a rarity for being feminine at the same time. It was coming from somewhere in the shadows of the sewers, but even with their keen senses and the boy's qi-sensing, they could not locate the source. It was as if the owner was all around them. The looked back at the homunculi and were surprised by their expressions – fear. They both readied themselves for more combat.

"O-our lair was intruded," Envy tried to reason with the disembodied words.

"You were too careless. It's time both of you retreated for today."

"But you can't—"

"_Silence, you imp!_ Are you daring to make more of a literal display of your disgraceful self than you already have?"

The wispy-haired being shook with silent rage, biting its tongue to avoid replying. It knew when it was outmatched. Once the desire had passed, it told Gluttony. "Let's go."

"Awww," the plump creature whinged, still looking at the people, some of whom had decided to hurriedly leave as the voice had struck fear in them too.

"Another time," Envy told him. Before they set off, it addressed the teenage fighters. "You guys are damn lucky you're still alive, so I'd advise you to leave before our…_friend_ changes her mind."

Ling raised her eyebrows.

As the black-clad creatures turned their backs on them, the two snatched the chance. With his kunai lost and no spares, Lan Fan was not really used to using his arms for anything other than blocking, so he readied himself to defend as his mistress placed her sword on one shoulder as indication. Ling rushed forwards silence, raising the blade as she did so (Lan Fan admired that she had picked up some of his and Fu's skills). The next moment, however, he was screaming "_Young Mistress!_" as _something_, what seemed to be a living shadow, grabbed her by the waist, raised her into the air and threw her to the floor. The girl hissed in pain, winded. Lan Fan was at her side in an instant.

"My Lady, are you alight?!"

"I…" she gasped and coughed, trying to get air back into her lungs. "I'm fine, just bruised, probably. Nothing feels broken."

The boy breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness." As he helped his boss to her feet he looked back to see if the homunculi were still visible - but of course, they were gone. He lowered his hands on her back and other hand resistively from hers (he had not realised he was holding it, and immediately started to sweat), before bowing his head in shame. "I'm very sorry, My Lady…I failed to obtain the clue to immortality…"

"It's alright. At least we know for sure they are hiding something. There's more of them, judging from that voice and what just happened. This is good, Lan Fan. This country is just full of interesting people."

* * *

As Hawkeye opened his mouth to ask if his friend was alright when a sharp noise, like something being slashed, caught their attention. The blonde man raised his gun, the girl her fists, and the armour man, his cleaver, as he moved out in front of the other two.

"I knew this plan would work," Lust said coolly as she brushed off dust from her retracted fingernails as she stepped through the hole in the wall. For once, she was not smiling. "Hello again, Number Sixty-Six. I knew you couldn't resist your body's call."

"Well, hello, Miss Lust," Barry replied in a clearly tauntingly polite voice.

"Why are co-operating with the Colonel?" the only female homunculus asked, her anger clearly audible.

"Heh heh, and I thought you knew me. I never intended to work for you guys, being hidden in the shadows all the time. But being back on the streets doesn't feel that good when I'm having to always look out for you guys. I want you people out of my life. And above all else…" the armour man's voice returned to its frightening best as he raised his still dripping blade. "_I want to chop you up!_"

Lust sighed. "You are impossible." Her eyes moved to focus on Alphonsa. "You too, iron girl. You are such a little brat. I can't believe you came here."

"I wanted to—"

"Having to kill two candidates for human sacrifice in a single night is just too much for me, I'll admit," Lust interrupted coldly, sounding almost pitying.

'_Human sacrifice'?_ Alphonsa anxiously pondered the meaning.

_Two candidates?_ Hawkeye thought, unaware the girl was now thinking the same.

"Yes," Lust said knowingly. "You and the other al—"

"_Enough chit-chat!_" Barry's outburst made all of them, even Lust, jump. "I'm still here, and I'm getting fed up!" Raising his blade, he started to charge. "_Now, let's hear your death cry! Scream your heart out, Missy!_"

The woman did not even blink; as Barry leapt at her (He had never slashed from the air before, and figured it would be good), she calmly extended her nails again and gave three powerful slashes.

"Heh, you missed!" Barry cackled, as he swooped in.

Then it happened. The armour segmented in almost artistic fashion, arms, legs, and body separated in various triangles and rectangles and rained down onto the floor.

"I don't like annoying men," the second oldest homunculus hissed as Barry's shocked jaw separated from his shocked face. As both pieces landed on the floor, his glowing eyes faded. Lust stepped over the metal pieces to get closer to Alphonsa and Hawkeye.

"Who wants to go first?" she asked, her face back in that taunting smirk back. "Iron girl?" She looked at the blonde man. "Or perhaps it should be you, First Lieutenant. You're such a loyal officer. I'm sure you'd like to join your boss as soon as possible."

It finally dawned on him. "Wait…you said 'two candidates for human sacrifice in a single night'…" His hands and lip began to quiver as his eyed widened in realisation. "It can't be…"

"I'm afraid it is," Lust replied.

The sharpshooter's breathing increased as he tried to hold back. He couldn't break down here. "You bitch…" he hissed. He couldn't hold back. "_YOU BITCH!_" He pumped the trigger of his gun, giving a wordless scream of rage, anguish, and sorrow all mixed together as he filled the female homunculus with lead. The magazine became empty after only a few seconds. Alphonsa shielded herself out of shock as the man paused in his screaming to change the magazine before shouting and shooting again. The dark-haired being just took the beating, determined not to yell in pain. The sequence continued until the sixth and final magazine was done, the man giving the empty gun an angry glance before looking back the woman.

"Are you done?" Lust asked, cool as ever.

Hawkeye collapsed to his knees, his bowed and arms limp, the gun clattering next to him as he sobbed, a river of tears flowing down his cheeks. "Just kill me…please…I've failed…"

Lust walked forward until she was directly in front of him and raised her hand. "Humans are such sad creatures." She told him in a voice that could have almost held pity. "You are so foolish and weak. I'll make this quick since you asked nicely." A hand swiftly cut her nails before they could pierce the man's heart and head.

The dark-haired being backed up a little in shock as Alphonsa stepped between her and Hawkeye, her arms slightly outspread.

"First Lieutenant," Alphonsa began, her eyes fixed on the dark-haired woman. "Get up. Run."

"You want to be the first to die? You want to die protecting someone who is perfectly willing to go? Very well."

Her eyes still fixed on the creature, Alphonsa clapped her hands together before placing them on the floor. From out of it rose a rather ornate spear, mirroring almost exactly Edwina's actions in Reole. Alphonsa grasped the weapon with both her hands, and pointed at Lust.

"You opened the gate…" Lust said with a small chuckle before slicing the spear in half (the girl just looked at it, feeling stupid). "It's even more of a shame to kill a confirmed human sacrifice." She then leapt forwards, sending three of her nails at the girl, fast as bullets.

Alphonsa knew she was too fast to block at this speed, and simply snapped the nails off as they impaled her where her heart, one lung, and jugular should have been. She was again thankful for her hollow form. The homunculus, surprised, stuck out again, but got the same result.

"First Lieutenant, hurry!" Alphonsa called over her shoulder, as she just managed to weave out of the way of another strike from the woman.

"Just get out of my way!" Lust snapped at her, getting frustrate upon noticing the girl was another soul-in-armour. "That man doesn't want to live anymore! I'm trying to do him a favour!"

"I won't let you!" Alphonsa yelled back, raising her arm as Lust tried to shoot over her. The nails impaled her forearm. The woman tried the other side and a result was repeated again. The two began to struggle.

"Alphonsa, leave me and run for it…" Hawkeye asked quietly, a puddle of tears having developed on the floor before him.

"No!" the armour girl replied defiantly.

"_Run!_ At least you should live!"

"Never!" Alphonsa shouted, managing to throw off Lust, causing her to stumble back, before looking back at the soldier. "I can't take it anymore! Because of me being so useless and refusing to fight, good people have died!" Flashes of Nina and Alexander, Hughes, and even Martel formed in her mind. "I won't just stand by and watch someone I could have protected die before my eyes!"

The blonde man looked up at her, not knowing what to think, not knowing what to do.

While this distracted her, Lust rushed at Alphonsa and gave another powerful slash. The armour connecting the girl's left arm to the body fell to the ground. For a moment of silence, Alphonsa watched it drop, then calmly, almost tauntingly, she alchemically joined the shoulder back. Lust sighed in further frustration.

"Well said, Alphonsa Elric."

Alphonsa smiled mentally, Hawkeye raised his head, the tears still running as his heart lifted, and Lust just behind her with a combination of shock and annoyance on her face. Knowing what was going to happen, Alphonsa quickly used the ground to forming a curving wall. She barely had time to pull the sharpshooter into her arms before the explosion of fire engulfed the female homunculus, who screamed in agony. As the flames died away and the smoke fell, the creature coughed.

"What?" she gasped on her hands and knees, trying to stand up as she renewed.

"To gain control in battle, the first thing you should do is immobilise your enemy." Colonel Mustang lowered her hand, her expression of silent rage as she stood in her blood-stained uniform, one hand inside her ripped and half-buttoned shirt, holding her still painful side as she stepped through the hole in the wall Lust had. "Surprise attacks are also effective." She raised her left hand again with her voice low. Lust's eyes widened as she saw the transmutation circle carved into the flesh of the back of her left hand, and the lighter in her hand. "Stay on your knees, homunculus. It's where you belong."

Lust screamed again as another blast of fire consumed her, so much she could feel some of her skin turn to ash. Again, she regenerated, before looking back at the woman behind her.

"How can you be here?! You're not even bleeding any more!" Lust said through heavy, pained breaths.

The Flame Alchemist pulled up one side of her shirt to reveal crusted blood around the burned flesh of her side, her teeth clenched as a new wave of pain passed through it. "I cauterised my wound. I almost passed out during it. Too bad I couldn't do anything for Havoc. Your death will be the start, though."

The blonde man's joy changed to panic as he fully took in the sight of his superior. He stood up. "Col—"

"Stay back, First Lieutenant!" Alphonsa instructed, pulling him down again before another eruption of fire and bout of shrieking had her pulling him into her arms again. Hawkeye just held her and hoped.

"You said 'there's still a long way before I die'. So I will kill you continuously, until you do!" Lust was incinerated again, but this time Mustang gave her no time to recover and as the lightning crackled she stuck again, and the creature screeched, as her flesh burned away to the point of exposing her bones and stone. Four more times, she endured the excoriating pain before she let out a different scream, this of anger and determination before reaching out through the latest flames with her arm, one of the her fingernails zooming towards the centre of the soldiers forehead – but it stopped short. For a moment, both opponents simply looked at each other, both with unyielding expressions.

"You win." Lust hissed. Her just-restored body began to fragment. She smiled slightly as she continued, her bones slowly being exposed as the flesh and muscle dissipated. "I hate to admit it, but it isn't too bad to get killed by a woman like you. We are the same, in some ways. I like that determination in your eyes." She was now nothing more than a head and torso. "I can't wait…for the day…when your eyes will be filled with torment…" she was now nothing more than a floating skull with a few ribs hanging there as well. "It's not that far away…" There was now nothing left but her Philosopher's Stone. It also dissolved into dust as it silently fell, joining the pitiful pile on the floor. Then Mustang, her teeth clenching as another, stronger wave of pain passed through her, collapsed to the floor on her side, all her adrenaline-fueled energy spent.

"Colonel!" Hawkeye yelped, his eyes full of worry as Alphonsa let him go as she followed him out from behind the ashen wall. The man fell to his knees by her side as he turned her onto her back, resting her head on his lap, holding her. "Hang in there!"

"Oh, good to see you're safe, First Lieutenant," the Flame Alchemist told her subordinate weakly, reaching up to grasp his shoulder.

"Please, you should be worrying about yourself!" the sharpshooter continued in that terrified tone.

Mustang's face scrunched as she bared another agonising surge before she moved her head to look at the younger Elric, trying to control her increasing breathing as she said, "Alphonsa…I want to thank you for protecting my officer."

"Never mind! We need to get you to a doctor!"

"Yes…" the dark-haired soldier closed her eyes. "Get a doctor for Havoc…please. I think he's still unconscious…"

Hidden in the shadows of the corridor, King Bradley sheathed his sword. An ordinary human, alchemist and sacrifice or not, had killed one of his 'siblings'. He had to admit he was impressed, if slightly…mournful. He turned and walked back down the corridor. Not long after, Alphonsa, Mustang and Hawkeye followed, the First Lieutenant carrying his now barely conscious superior as they went to collect Havoc.

In the room, upon noticing everything was quiet, the blood seal, which had somehow remained intact, began to think. _It's over? Phew. Good thing I played dead. It saved me .But what do now? I can't move. I really hope someone finds me…_

He heard a scrabbling noise, but could not look down from the ceiling to see who it was. He knew, however, when the figure followed the voice, sniffing at the blood seal as it slunk over to the piece of armour, leaving drag-trials of blood behind it.

"You, you're still alive?!" the piece of armour-with-a-soul exclaimed. "Get away! I'm still Barry the Chopper, you know!" Barry's body, a curious look on its face, picked up the piece of armour. "Don't you know that, you idiot?! You and I terrified central! I kill you again! And then I'll kill more! And more! And more— wait! Wait, wait, wait!" He felt nails scrap across the seal, which give a jolt of alchemic energy which shot through the body. The body liked it, and scratched again to get the same reaction. "No! Stop it! _No!_" The being just continued to scratch, slowly scraping the blood seal away until there was nothing. The pleading voice faded as the body tipped over as they died in unison.

Ten or so minutes later, the Führer walked back out of the still-open entrance doors.

"Your Excellency!" the blonde solider and his superior said together as they stepped back from the doors. "What happened inside?!"

The eye-patched man ignored their question. As he reached the gates he spoke to the two women guarding it. "Call an ambulance, please."

"Umm…" the red-haired soldier on the left began.

"Ask for two cars as well," the Führer continued before she could question him, continuing to walk as he did so.

"Yes, sir!" she responded with a salute, before heading out towards the nearest phonebox.

King Bradley glanced back at the prison building one final time before he turned out onto the street.

* * *

The boy did not know how long he had been sitting here. His head was resting in his hands and his eyes were drooping again.

"It'll be ok. They'll be ok. It'll be ok. They'll be ok," he said again and again. He has lost count of how many times he had said that as well. He heard the drop open behind him but did not look around nor stop muttering.

"Sir, wouldn't you like to wait inside. It's getting quite cold."

"…They'll be ok. It'll be ok. They'll be ok. It'll be ok…"

The hotel employee just felt pity. Then the two heard the sound of mental feet clanking on the ground. The man's jaw dropped in surprise and Winter leapt up as Alphonsa emerged from the dark part of the backstreet.

"A-Al!" Winter exclaimed, seeing the damage to her body. He felt more tears pricking his eyes in both worry and relief.

"Um…I'm back," the armour girl said, smiling in her head.

"You id—" he stopped. "Oh, just, welcome back!" He walked forwards and hugged her.

"Um…" the younger Elric repeated, rubbing the back of her head. For some unknown reason, she started to laugh. "He…hehe."

"Ha…hahaha," Winter responded. "Oh, but look at your armour!"

"Oh yeah, looks like I need your skills again. Sorry." She rubbed the back of her head again.

"It's ok. So long as you're ok. Now we just need to wait for Ed…"

The hotel employee just continued to watch in confusion.

* * *

**Author's Note: Sorry that this update took so long, dear readers. I've had a lot on my mind the past year or so, and in the last few months, just as I thought everything was beginning to get better…more shit had to happen. But I won't talk about my non-related issues on a place for writing fanfiction. I think this time, I finally put in enough original content. Do you think I wrote the 'Hawkeye breaks down' scene well? Scenes like this are one of the major reasons I like Gender-Flipped tropes, and gender-bended stories (the other reason being…well…most of time I wish the swapped genders were the canon ones…but I'll go into that deeper later. I'm not ready to annoy you all yet).**

**There may be more mistakes then usual again, as again, I wanted to get this out before you started getting annoyed or thinking I had abandoned it.**

**I'm still annoyed by Lust being the first to die, but at least in my fanfiction, she is, again, not the only female villain.**

**I hope you enjoyed this despite the wait.**


	36. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36**

_**The Philosopher from the West**_

"Rizenbul station!" Announced the conductor as the train slowed.

As the Fullmetal and Strong Arm Alchemist made their way to the door, a strangely-dressed boy with what seemed to be a small cat on his left shoulder weaved in-between them and the others getting off before hopping off the train, a curious look on his face before he spotted a sandwich-seller and approached him with a groaning stomach.

"Oh hello, Edwina," the conductor greeted with a smile. "Visiting again?"

"No, I was kidnapped by him," the blonde jabbed a thump at the man slightly behind her.

"I…see. And Alphonsa?"

"Had to leave her behind, as I got kidnapped."

"Well…just try to have a nice time."

The two headed off, Armstrong taking the lead.

"Can you tell me what's going on yet?" Edwina asked the older alchemist, now completely fed up. "You're kind of freaking me out."

"Just a little furth— ah, there he is." Armstrong smiled.

With a travelling bag at his side, a bag of food shopping in one arm and, and his coat slung over one arm, Heymans Breda stood on side of the country path leading from the station. Like the Major, he was also not in uniform, inside wearing a white shirt with the top button undone, an amber waistcoat, matching trousers and brown, leather sandals with socks.

"Good day, Major Armstrong, Edwina," He greeted the man and teenager while saluting.

Her frustration changing to confusion, Edwina asked. "Why is he here?"

Breda did not reply as he fell into step ahead of the other two. "So…are you tagging along to see my automail get repaired?"

"Nah, doesn't interest me. Besides, we don't have time for that." The Second Lieutenant led them to a house the blonde did not recognise. As the puzzled but curious young woman entered the house along with the men, a man, Xingese in appearance, with a goatee and wearing a long robe, skullcap and sunglasses, raised a hand in greeting.

"Hello there," he said.

"This is Mr. Han. He's an immigration officer," Breda explained to the teenager. "Mr. Han, this is Edwina Elric."

"Nice to meet you. Fu-san has told me all about you, Miss Elric," Mr. Han said, standing up to shake the girl's hand.

"Fu…as in the bodyguard of Ling?" the blonde teenager asked as they shook.

"Yes," the man replied with a nod, before turned to the other two military members. "Now, about our plan to leave the country…"

"'Leave the country?'" the Fullmetal Alchemist echoed. "But I haven't got a passport."

"Duh. Passports would leave a paper trail, wouldn't they?" Breda replied with a roll of his eyes.

"You mean we're smug—" Armstrong clamped his hand over her mouthing, causing to become a muffled "Mm-ing" as the three men glared daggers at her. The girl reached up and grabbed the man's wrist tightly, and he withdrew it.

"Bastards…" the teenager hissed before slamming her fist onto the table they stood at. "Whatever you're up to, it better be worth it!" She felt a devious smirk tug at her lips as the men nodded. "So, where are we off too?"

The men smiled as well. "To the east!"

* * *

"_Why?_ Why would you let them go alive after what they learned and what that Colonel did to Lust?!" Envy shouted at Bradley as he stood before Father's throne. "The ones Gluttony and were fighting got close to finding here as well! The only reason we couldn't kill them was because Pride told us not to!"

"Lust…L-Lust...my best friend…" Gluttony snuffled

"I know!" Envy snapped at him. "You've been crying for the last fifteen minutes!" He looked back at the Führer. "The Colonel and her lackey are in the hospital, right? Go kill them! It isn't too late yet! We can't let them get away with making a fool of us!"

Gluttony just continued to weep, no longer listening to the conversation.

"Wrath…" Father spoke for the first time since his 'children' had returned, his hand still covering his eyes. "Why did you let the Flame Alchemist get away?"

"She is still of some use," the eye-patched man replied.

Envy's mouth fell open slightly and Gluttony's attention was caught as Father rose from his seat, the three tubes inserted in his back unplugging as he did so. His face was a frown as he walked gracefully over to Wrath, stopping right in front of him.

"In what way will he be useful?" the golden-haired man asked, his voice laced with the slightest fury.

"She is very protective of her friends and comrades. While it is her greatest strength, it is also her greatest weakness." The dark-haired male looked directing into the eyes of his creator as he finished, "I will have her open the gate."

A moment's silence followed, the other two homunculi wondering what Father would do. The man's mouth spread into an approving smile.

"I'll leave this to you," he told his 'son' before turned and walking towards his chair.

"Yes, sir," Bradley replied with a bow.

"Wrath will be in charge of the Flame Alchemist from now on," Father said as he settled down again.

Envy growled in annoyance before whipping its head around to look at his youngest 'brother'. "You can't be serious about this! Just kill that bitch already!"

"I have a different plan. Leave everything to me."

* * *

"Alphonsa, wait for me!"

The girl paused on the hospital steps and looked behind her to see the bespectacled Sergeant Major running towards her.

"Hello, Sergeant Major," Alphonsa greeted. "It's feels like such a long time since I last so you, how are you?"

"I'm fine apart from being worried about the Colonel and Second Lieutenant. I take it your visiting as well?"

"Yeah," the girl replied with a mental nod as they fell into step and opened the double doors to the building.

The short man looked her up and down. "Though I wonder if someone should visit you. You look badly hurt yourself."

Alphonsa glanced over the bandages around her neck and now-limp left arm, then took into note the doctors, nurses and patients who stared at her as they passed them in the corridor, before responding, "So it's really that noticeable? So embarrassing…"

"No, no," Fuery assured her. "Those are wounds of honour. The First Lieutenant told me you got them while protecting him when he was disarmed by his opponent. There's nothing to be ashamed of."

"I see…" Alphonsa said. _The First Lieutenant should not be so ashamed of his emotions…_

They headed up another flight of stairs and just as Fuery was about to say something else as they reached Mustang and Havoc's room, a yell of "_You idiot!_" had them jumping in surprize.

"That sounded like the Colonel," Alphonsa observed. The two of them simply stood outside the door, listening in.

"You lost the will to fight because you believed what you were told by an enemy?!" Mustang continued in a slightly lower voice, her fists clenched in the blanket. "First Lieutenant Hawkeye, I thought you'd be the last person to act like that!"

"I'm very sorry, Ma'am," the blonde man replied shamefully, his head bowed and his eyes closed, unable to look at his superior.

"Don't let yourself be confused," the dark-haired women went on, her voice now normal but still severe. "Never stop thinking! Never give up, even if things are bad, you go don't go down without a fight! Loss is hard to deal with, yes, but if you are a soldier, if you are my aide, you must remain firm. Even if I really were dead, I would have expected you to keep going."

"Yes, Ma'am," the sharpshooter replied.

There was a pause as the woman fully took in the man's expression. Even with his eyes closed, she could see the pain and sorrow at his failing her. "I will continue entrusting you to watch my back."

The man looked up, his eyes opening in some surprize, before his closed them again and nodded.

"You've got a check to talk, Colonel," Havoc spoke for the first time since he had woken. "Who's the commander who walked blindly onto the battlefield?"

"Shut up!" the woman snapped at his her hair whipping out as she snapped her head around to glare at him. A sharp pain shot through her along with a bout of nausea and she groaned.

"Don't yell so much," Havoc warned. "I'd think you'd know it would make your condition worse. Not to mention it's making my wounds sting."

"Is that how you talk to the person saved your life?!" the woman continued in an annoyed tone once the wave had passed.

"I'm grateful for that, of course, but I wish you'd fried me with more care. These marks will drive girls away from me."

"Oh, boo hoo! I did yours to rare! I had to do myself medium! How's that's? I'm worse off!"

"I'm not talking about doneness!"

"Some girls like scars, so quit whining!"

"And som— oooowww!"

Simultaneously, Mustang curled up in spasms while Havoc, unable to do so, squirmed as similar pains moved through them. Once it had passed, the woman spoke again. "Why am I sharing a room with a man, anyway?"

"Yeah, I should be in a private room with a beautiful nurse all to myself," Havoc declared.

"Please bear with it," Hawkeye told them with slight reassurance and his arms folded. "The enemy could very well sneak into here and finish you off in your sleep. It's easier to keep the two of you safe if you are in the same room."

"You do have a point," Mustang replied with an air of feeling defeated as she settled back into bed. "Why _haven't _they taken this perfect opportunity to kill us? It's not like death is uncommon in a hospital…"

Havoc shrugged.

Thinking this was a good time as any, Alphonsa and Fuery quietly opened the door.

"Excuse us for interrupting," the bespectacled man began, saluting respectfully as they stepped through and closed the door behind them.

"We've come to see how you're doing," the armour girl finished,

"Alphonsa!" Hawkeye yelped as he spotted the bandages, his fear clearer than ever. "You shouldn't be walking around like that! Don't you realise someone could be after you as well?"

"It's ok," the younger Elric replied, waving her hand in that dismissive but reassuring way of hers. "I have someone who can sense homunculi accompanying me."

Perched effortlessly atop the hospital flag pole, Lan Fan was observing.

"'Sense homunculi?' Mustang repeated with a baffled expression."

"How so?" the blonde asked, his face both confused and curious.

"I don't quite understand it either. He told me it's something to do with something called 'qi', a form of energy flowing though all living things…"

Fuery noticed dark circles under the First Lieutenant's eyes. "First Lieutenant, you might want to take some rest. I could fill in for you for a bit."

"I'm fine," the man replied, before his expression returned to its usual sternness. "This is my job. I'm fine." For a moment, his expression softened as he added, "Besides, you're not well skilled at fighting. But I know what you are good at, so did you get that thing I asked you for?"

"Yeah, here," the younger male reached into his jacket and drew out a rolled-up piece of paper.

"What is it?" the Flame Alchemist asked, sitting up again while the equality curious Alphonsa drew closer.

For a moment, the blonde ignored them both. "Thank you," he told Fuery. "And if you really want to do some guard work, can you watch the door?"

"Yes, Sir!" the dark-haired man said with a smile, before heading out and closing the door behind him, taking up position next to it.

Hawkeye turned back to his superior and friends, moving around so they could see the paper as he opened it. It was a map. "This is only a rough estimate, but I measured my stride and counted my steps from since I descended under the third laboratory." He trailed his index finger along a line drawn in drawn in red ink as he continued. "With this information, Fuery was able to calculate the distance from the underground entrance to the doors under the lab. We couldn't tell the exact distance since the corridors weren't straight," he pointed a red ink circle near the centre of the map. "So I drew a circle with the lab at the centre."

"That's brilliant, First Lieutenant!" the Colonel praised, looking up from her examination for a moment to smile at him. Havoc could only lie there, confused.

"Thank you very much, Ma'am," the man replied, a little surprised.

"Colonel, look!" Alphonsa said suddenly, pointing at dark building on right side of the paper, near the edge of the circle. "That's the second laboratory."

"That's interesting, but here's something more," Mustang said, rubbing her chin again. She was also looking at the right side, but at the upper edge of the circle. Alphonsa, and Hawkeye followed her gaze. "The outer edge of Central Headquarters is inside this circle too, and so is the Führer's office, though only barely. It could be possible…"

"But, the Führer lead a group of troops to wipe out a homunculus called Greed and his gang in Dublith. The Major fought alongside him too," Alphonsa explained. "Although I don't understand why he had to completely eradicate them…" another image of Martel, the one she could have saved, could have turned away from crime, fleeted through her mind again.

"Oh, so that was what the Major meant by he had to fight in the south…as for the Führer, he could have eliminated them all as he thought they were a threat to the military's nucleus…" The dark-haired woman paused in rubbing her chin looked over at the Second Lieutenant. "The Führer's the one who called for an ambulance for us, right?"

"That's what I heard," he replied.

The woman folded her arms again. "Can we consider him an ally?"

Feeling this part of the conversation was not for her, Alphonsa spoke. "I think I'll go now. Good luck with things. Colonel, Second Lieutenant, I hope you have a quick recovery.

"Thank you for coming, Alphonsa," Hawkeye told her with a small, short smile.

As she opened the door, Fuery stumbled back from the door, trying to hide his guilt.

Alphonsa smirked mentally as she closed the door behind her. "You were listening in again, weren't you?"

"…Yeah," the short man replied while looking at the floor.

The smirk changed to gentle smile. "Don't worry, I won't say anything. I'm just as guilty, after all. I'll see you another time." She left, still going over the things she had heard. As soon as she was gone, Sergeant Major pressed his ear back against the door."

"…We must be up against a syndicate that is powerful enough to endanger the Military. Hughes was right, as I feared." the Colonel was continuing. "Even if the Führer is not involved with those creatures, I'm sure some of the higher-ups are. However, as we can guess, it's not going to be easy to defeat them. When I sent Barry to the prison, I though the best we could hope for would be a lead on those that are corrupting the Military, but we caught something much bigger than expected."

"It seems a bit too big for me," the sharpshooter proposed. "The only way I can think we can win is if we caught them off guard…"

"But it's worth it, isn't it?" the Flame Alchemist asked rhetorically and with a small laugh. "Besides, you guys want me to become Führer just as much as Hughes did, so I'll be continuing to having work hard."

"I'll do whatever you say, as always," the blonde replied, saluting and smiling back as hope and determination returned. He looked sideways at the Second Lieutenant."

"Yeah, about this…you'll have count me out." The other officers looked around at him, the female scowling, the man confused. Havoc just looked disappointed in himself. "I can't feel my legs. I'm out of the game. I'm sorry."

His superior's expression instantly softened.

"I think I understand now why Nee-san has a grudge with the Colonel," the amour girl was saying as she and the young solider stepped outside. "She takes in all the irritating or awful things and still claims her goals are her top priority. But when it comes to protecting those close to her, she completely forgets about herself. She's very much like Nee-san. People sometimes resent people that are most like them."

"Well then, I guess that's why you two tend to bicker," Fuery replied. "You might be far different in personality, but you'll protect each other and your friends at any cost," His eyes moved over the bandages again, as he held open the hospital gate like he had the door. "Has anyone told you you're very mature for your age?" Inside her head, the girl bowed her head. "If I were mature, I wouldn't be willing to commit a taboo to bring back our real bodies…if I was mature, I would have accepted that we could bring back mother, but still know that she loved us and we loved her…"

* * *

"God…it's so bloody hot…" Edwina huffed as sweat poured from her brow and down her red face. The tan-coloured cloaks they all wore to keep the Great Desert sand off them was not helping.

"Oh, come now, Edwina, you are tougher than that," the male alchemist said in a way he hoped was reassuring. "If the horses can cope, than a strong-willed young lady like you can."

"Have you forgotten about the metal limbs, one of which you broke?!" the blonde snapped in response.

"Ah, I see. Pardon me."

"Mr. Han, how long do we have to do go?" Breda asked.

"Not that long," he replied. "We crossed the border a while ago, so we're more than halfway there." Taking pity on his travelling companions, he reached into his saddle bag to take out three bottles of water, which were passed back. Edwina guzzled hers empty on a few gulps. Once they were relatively rehydrated, the man took out a telescope. "I think you'll like this place, Edwina." The telescope was passed to her.

"That's the centre of the Xerxes ruins," the female alchemist observed once she had the tool focused. "That used to be the urban district of a once gloriously kingdom, but is now nothing more than a stop-off for the caravans travelling between the East and West. A shame, really." The once-magnificent buildings, arches and pillars had been made of sandstone, the streets once stone-paved and smooth, all now slowly disengaging.

Asthey approached the teenager's growing curiosity was replaced.

"There you are," Fu greeted Mr. Han as he crouched frog-like upon a rock. The heat did not seem to be affecting him at all.

The bodyguard's eyes moved over the other two men before settling on the young woman. "Why is that rude girl here?"

"_I give that right back, you old geezer!_" Edwina shouted, her face even redder, as if it were possible. "_I've got a ton of questions like 'why are YOU here?', 'why did I have to dragged out into the middle of no-where?', but most importantly, 'IS THERE ANY MORE WATER?'_"

"That is not for me to answer," the old man replied calmly.

Once the girl had half-downed another bottle of water (the horses having their fill from a troth), she felt calm and cool again.

"So, why are we here? All I know about this place is from "The Tale of the Philosopher of Xerxes'."

"Hm?" Fu said curiously, feeling the title was familiar.

"Yeah, it's a legend about a philosopher who gave our country alchemy. '…and Xerxes perished in that single night. Its single survivor, a man with no true name, drifted to Amestris, and to keep his culture alive, taught alchemy to its people.'" The blonde teenager recounted from the book she had read.

"Strange. We have a similar legend regarding Rentanjutsu. It's called 'The Tale of the Sage from the West'. Three Xingese travellers found a man stranded in the desert, and brought him to our country, where they gave him food and water and nursed him to health using Rentanjutsu. In gratitude, he offered to help them develop their 'alchemy' more. He merged his techniques with our traditional, medicine-based arts, and in the space of only few tens of years, it became the elixir-making Rentanjutsu of today."

"Could it be the same person?"

The soldiers and Mr. Han where now listening into the conversation.

"Possibly," Fu went on. "There is even a story about an Imperial family, who, believing it granted immortality, kept drinking mercury and died out in three generations."

"So, this is where the sage came from?" Armstrong asked.

"That's what the tale tells," the man replied.

Edwina's eyes widened for a moment (the two soldiers equally as surprised) as she realised both knowing what could possibly be the source of alchemy and why Ling wanted to see the ruins. She looked around at the place they were standing in, a temple, judging from the patterned pillars, the remains of a curved roof and it's once many windows.

"How could a civilisation of this scale vanish in a single night…?" the Strong-Arm Alchemist wondered, having not had the tine to properly admire the place on his last visit.

"Maybe it is just a legend…" the Second Lieutenant said, in awe regardless.

Another surprise hit the Fullmetal Alchemist when she looked at the ceiling properly. Upon it was a pentagon, each corned marked with a sun with a face, and in the centre was a dragon, the same one that adorned the flags and State Alchemist watches of Amestris. It was not myth, she was sure of that.

"What are doing?" the girl jumped and turned around to see Fu standing right behind her, his arms folded, before he re-joined the soldiers and fellow Xingese male. "This way."

"Oh…ok." She hurried over to and joined them they entered what had presumably been the temper's main worship room, judging by the half-dust statues and altar.

"We're going deep inside this place, girl, so be careful," Fu warned her as they enter another room down a flight of stars from the main one. "It's bad enough I left one woman on her own in such a conspicuous place."

"'Woman'?" the blonde repeated. "Oh, and that reminds me, don't you feel bad about leaving Ling? I didn't know bodyguard could do that, especially ones like you,"

"I don't like it, no, but I trust the boy to do his duty and follow the Young Mistress's orders as always."

"So, you _do_ have soft side?" Edwina asked tauntingly.

"Be quiet!" the man retorted.

They reached another set of doors, and once they, like the other one, were heaved open, they stepped through into another large room. Just like most of buildings, this one was so ruined the sunlight shone clearly down, with only small patches of merciful shade.

"Edwina?!"

As the alchemist followed the familiar voice and say that she was not hallucinating, another memory of words played in her mind _'There's a nice place in the eastern region where I go on breaks. It's nice and quiet, and has plenty of good people to meet…'._ "Damn that Colonel."

Maria Ross just smiled as she stood from the bench after getting over the initial shock.

"_I was so worried about you, Second Lieutenant!_" Armstrong bellowed, crying again as he ran to embrace the woman, but she dodged and the man's arms closed on air.

"I don't another hug, Sir," she said warningly, standing in a defensive pose.

"You can't hide someone who's supposed to be dead in their country," the somewhat plump soldier answered the girl's unspoken question as she and Fu watched the woman dodge her superior's attempts to wrap his arms around her. "This seemed like the safest option as so few come here."

"I take it by this, she didn't kill the Brigadier General?" Edwina asked, her lips wanting to form a relieved smile.

The man beside gave her gave a laugh. "Ask her yourself."

"So, the Colonel did this?"

"Think about it. It was obviously suspicious."

"Well, to be honest, I wasn't really thinking at the time…"

"That's understandable."

For a while more, the two simply watched as Ross was now running to get away from the muscular Major.

* * *

"Rizenbul Station!" the conductor called again. Among the people returning home from trips and the city people coming for holidays, a man with golden-blonde hair in a ponytail, two thin curtains falling over his face, and a nearly trimmed beard and sideburns, stepped off the train. He was well-dressed, his return being a great occasion for him, in a white shirt, black tie, black waistcoat with shiny buttons, dark grey dress trousers, a russet-coloured coat and shiny black shoes.

"I'm back," he greeted the conductor with a gentle smile.

"Welcome home," the man replied. Then both surprise and confusion hit him and double-took the man as he approached the ticket window and handed in the stamped-as-proof piece of paper. "I'm back. Good to see you again." He greeted the bespectacled, late-middle-age woman, who smiled back at his own one. Then she also double-took in disbelief as he walked away.

_They're both still working here, after these years. How nice. I hope everything else hasn't changed too much_, the man thought to himself, obvious to

The male worker trotted up to the window. "Am I just tired or was that really…?"

"Yes, I'm certain it was," the female employee replied. "I thought, as he'd been gone so long, something had happened…"

The man headed down the familiar path, again admiring the workmanship of the short stone wall that marked one side of it, and glanced into the river to watch the fish as he crossed the bridge. As he approached his destination, however, it was his turn to be surprised and confused. All that greeted him at the end was a dead tree, piles of ash and the remaining piles of rotting wood and singed brick-pieces. For a moment, he stood there, staring in shock, before turning around and hurrying back down the path, and up the right-hand one instead.

In her house, with her work done, no-one to look after and evening closing in, Pinako was once again flipping through the photo albums, this one being the oldest she had out of the four. With a slight smile, she gazed over an image of a new-born Winter being held by his both nervous and tearfully happy father while his mother watched. Right next to that was another new-born image, this being Alphonsa in her mother's arms, her now older sister poking her face curiously as she was introduced. Downwards, she moved onto to a picture of the sisters and her grandson, the boy and younger girl smiling, while the older one scowling at the camera, as Trisha had to practically shove her into it, it having been such a nice day, to Winter with a shocked expression as he pulled a puppy out of a present box while his parents watched, amused by his face. Pinako just _had _to get that expression on camera. She wondered if the boy still felt guilty over what happened to the dog's leg. As her eyes moved to an image of Alphonsa, dressed smartly for her first day of school, she again began to miss taking physical memories of everyday life. Den, who had been dozing a moment before, pulled her from her thoughts as she stood up, looking towards the door.

"A visitor, Girl?" She said, listening and hearing the footsteps on the stairs. The visitor knocked. Den lowered her head, growling, her black-and-white fur bristling. The older Rockbell sighed.

"Again with this, girl? Calm down" she scolded her as she placed her hand on the doorknob. _Why would that Colonel come here anyway?_ However, as she opened the door, her jaw almost fell in disbelief. She had to be imaging this. Perhaps her picture-gazing had caused her to fall asleep without notice and relive the memories, as she gazed up at golden eyes shielded by thin-frame glasses, the loose, two different-length hair-strands falling in front of them and the strong but kind face.

"Pinako," the golden-haired man, said, his expression still confused. "My house is gone."

"Hohenheim?! How can you just…" the old woman could not finish the sentence, thought more because Den ran beside her protectively, growling and baring her teeth warningly up at her older owner's old friend.

"Sorry for scaring you," the bespectacled male responded, speaking to them both as he reached out to pat the dog on the head. Den snapped, trying bite as deep as possible into his flesh, but Hohenheim yanked his hand back.

"I've never been popular with animals," the man commented with a slightly amused expression as Pinako pulled the canine back. Hohenheim's gazed moved to the open album on the dining table while Pinako calmed the still on-edge mutt.

"May I see how things have been since I left?" he asked his friend.

Pinako closed the door and debated for a few moments inside her inside her head. "…Sure."

The two of them sat at the table as the man browsed from the page that was open, Den now calm and laying back down, though he had chosen to lie between the two humans, her eyes fixed on the male with her ears pricked.

"It doesn't seem like anything has changed," the man commented as he returned to the beginning of the album.

Pinako just watched waited. She would explain later.

Upon opening the first page of the album, the father's eyes were immediately drawn to one of the oldest pictures Pinako owned (taken in the September of 1866), of herself in her prime, wavy red-pink hair pulled into a ponytail, her mechanic's jumpsuit flecked with oil as she and Hohenheim shared a bottle of scotch in her trainer's office after a hard day's graft.

"You haven't change at all," Pinako commented as she too looked the image. "You never do."

The blonde's face fell as the atmosphere changed. "Neither have you."

* * *

**Author's Note: I never noticed Mei's little cameo until I re-read the corresponding manga chapter for an idea of how to write this chapter, so I just had to put Mao into in here.**

**I feel the need to apologize again for the wait, so sorry. Apart from this, there is not much else I can think of to say this time.**

**I hope you enjoyed it, as always :).**

**Thank you ^_^.**


	37. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37**

_**The Palm of an Arrogant Human Being **_

"If you want to see something interesting, you should look at this," Breda said as handing the newspaper over to the woman. Her frustrated expression changed to a frown of thought.

"Hm, I'm heard of this Second Lieutenant Ross from Major Armstrong," the woman explained as she read the article. "He speaks highly of her. 'A loyal, intelligent soldier, as skilled in firearms as your First Lieutenant', he said." She placed the paper back down and tented her fingers again. "But while it can sometimes be the one you least expect, there does seem something off about this. It's too quick, too…perfect."

"Yeah, I thought the same. It just seems too flashy," the plump man replied, taking another glance at the paper before tucking it back into his open jacket.

_Trrring-trrring!_

With them both broken from their thoughts, the Colonel picked up the receiver. Yes?"

"You have a call from Warrant Officer Falman on the military line, Ma'am," the receptionist informed her, sounding concerned.

"I'll take it."

"Colonel, about Hughes' case, did you—"

"Yo, Falman, let me talk to her."

"You just shut up and go—"

The woman rolled her eyes as a clanking sound followed Falman's slightly muffled voice as the armour man took the phone.

"Hello, oh, beautiful one!" Barry crooned again. "Did you see the news? Interesting piece, right? Can I chop you up now that the case is solved? I've been very patient and well-behaved…"

"No, and if you ask again, I'll—" At that moment, Hawkeye returned from his lunch break. Not wanting to worry him anymore than he was, the woman quickly switched to her typical pretence. "Oh, hi, Barbara. It's been a while. Is Falman letting you use the military line again?" She said, quickly plastering a smile on her face as she turned her chair slightly away from the two of them. Hawkeye gave a suspicious, sideways glance to the other male solider.

"I…was going to ask her to stop chatting so she could look at her paperwork," he quickly told him.

The blonde rolled his eyes, but played along, wondering just what his superior was planning.

"I told you, you can't use these lines for personal use. It costs us," Mustang went on when there was no response.

Barry, confused, stared at the phone for a moment before guessing what the woman was trying. "I'm sorry," he eventually replied, putting on a high, feminine voice. "I nagged him. I just wanted a few words with you, to tell you about how Falman and I are soon moving in together!"

Before she replied, the dark-haired officer heard a thump, which she presumed was Falman banging his head on the wall in annoyance, frustration and even despair.

"Ah, I see. I guess I can chat for a little bit. I'll call you from a booth outside."

"Okay," Barry replied cheerfully.

Mustang put the phone down. "I'm sorry, First Lieutenant, Second Lieutenant, but if I don't finish this call, Barbara will be trying to call for the rest of the day and I won't able to get anything done."

"I understand," Breda said, nodding.

The First Lieutenant stood there for a moment before replying, "Yes, Ma'am. I understand too."

As Mustang walked past Breda, she flicked her eyes at him and then the door. Once she had left, Breda turned to Hawkeye. "I guess I'll have my break, now. See you in half-an-hour, First Lieutenant," He left, trying to look as casual as he always was. For a moment the other man stood silent again, before walking out the door towards his own desk, shaking his head as he did so.

The plump brunette caught up the Colonel just as she was entering a phone booth at the end of the street, and stood outside it, eyes sharp.

"You done acting like a weirdo, lady?" Barry told the woman as he picked up the ringing phone. Falman stood next to him, his arms folded.

"I'm just always worried about the Military lines being tapped," the woman told him in a disgruntled tone. "And I suppose I should thank you for being quick-witted enough to realise what I was doing. Anyway, let's talk about how we are going to break Maria Ross out of prison."

"Eh? Oh. You don't need to do anything. I'll just barge through the gates and fight my way in and to her. Geh heh heh!"

"…Right," the woman mentally scolded herself at not expecting that response. "Once you've found Maria Ross, go down the second alleyway in the warehouse street."

"Yes, Milady!"

"Oh, and don't kill any police or employers or anyone else unless there is no other opinion."

"I understand. You'll get pissed at me otherwise, right? I can't upset the love of my life! Now, how to start off this little venture without it looking suspicious…oh, I know!" The man turned to Falman. "I'll make it look like you're _my_ prisoner!"

The Flame Alchemist couldn't help but cringe as a loud _crack_ sounded.

"What was that?" Breda asked, hearing the sound through the closed door, so he opened it.

"I know Falman wouldn't agree to this, so I had him…taken out for a bit."

"You'd harm us if it meant your plan goes ahead without a problem?" Breda commented, though still in a questioning tone, unknowingly backing away slightly.

"He'll be fine in an hour or so. Besides, Barry knows what will happen if he really does harm him." Mustang had placed the phone back down and was jotting a list as she spoke. "Breda, it is extremely urgent that you gather these items for me." She ripped out the page of the small book and held it back for him to take as she stepped out of the booth.

"The bones and flesh of a pig, carbon, ammonia, phosphorous, sulphur, lime," the other officer read aloud. "What are they for?"

"To mock up a burnt corpse."

"Wait…that kind of sounds like you're going to try Human Transmutation."

The woman folded her arms as she quickly responded, "Don't be so stupid. It's just what a burnt human corpse could look like."

"But the autopsy with discover that. And the lack of organs will be suspicious." Breda threw his arms out in both concern and disbelief.

"I can't take any risk using organs because, one, the DNA would be recognised as not being Ross's and I'm certainly not going to steal them from the hospital, where people really need them. Besides, you can't analyse something reduced to charcoal."

They started walked back to the HQ.

"And what are you going to do when they find out through dental works?" The brunette questioned further.

"Hm…I'll have the First Lieutenant take care of that." The Colonel sighed. "He thinks I'm going too far with handling Hughes's death. He's not going to be happy, but I know he'll follow the order. I guess I'll have to explain my code to him too. Anyway, the main components' of a human tooth is calcium and sodium. If I can get my hands on these, it should be easy to alchemise some teeth."

"Man, alchemy sure can do a lot. But how can you do it?"

"It may not be my speciality, but I do have the knowledge. And burnt corpses _are_ my speciality."

* * *

"After that, when Barry entered the detention centre and encountered the Young Mistress, who had been arrested for illegal entry in the country, and helped her and Miss Ross escape." Fu added, taking over to explain his side. Everyone was sitting in a circle, either on rocks, or the dusty, uneven ground. Edwina was listening intensity to each sentence. Fu and Mr. Han sat in the more casual Xingese custom of legs folded and hands clasped on top of one another and Ross could finally relax - after she had reached an agreement the Strong Arm Alchemist could simply pat her on the head if he was that desperate to comfort her.

"The plan went along smoother than I thought it would," Breda stepped back in.

"_You are Maria Ross, correct?" The Colonel asked the woman. She saw fear, yet also defiance, in the other woman's eyes as she slowly nodded. The older female did not notice the Second Lieutenant's little yelp as she turned to the bin in the alleyway and pulled out the dummy. Even with the bones inside and flesh pieces sewn to it, she was surprised by how human it still looked. She turned back to the other soldier as she threw it on the floor. "Tonight, you shall die here, Maria Ross."_

_The woman ignited the dummy, causing the now confused Second Lieutenant to throw up her arms and stumble back in surprise as she unleashed some of the most powerful flames she could muster. For a moment, she checked the 'corpse' for any intact piece, before walking up to the other woman. "Come on, now." Ross yelped a "What?!" as she was lifted up and dropped into the large bin. As she landed another unfamiliar face appeared above her._

"_Shh," Havoc hushed as she opened her mouth to demand an explanation. He gestured to the hole in the wall behind him. "This way, hurry." With no other opinions Ross got on her hands and knees to follow the man. She tensed when he looked down and grabbed her wrist._

"_Oh," he said as he looked at the prison band. "Excuse me." Using a pair of pillars from his jacket, he cut of the chain before opening the bin and holding the band out. "Hey, Colonel, you forgot about this,"_

_The Flame Alchemist paused and turned back. "Damn. Thank you, Havoc." As the man closed the lid again, she placed the broken band around the wrist of the dummy._

_In the next street, Falman was arranging the rubbish to cover the hole. "I hope that's enough. This isn't part of the plan anyway. The Colonel can handle any problems."_

"_Will you just tell me what the hell is going on?!" Ross hissed, angry but still sensing she had to keep quiet._

"_Later," the fellow Second Lieutenant replied. "Come on."_

_Again with no other options, she followed him with her eyes and ears sharp._

"Mr. Havoc took Miss Ross to an apartment next to that of the other solider, Falman, and hid her there. In the next building, having watched the events, the Young Mistress reunited with myself and Lan Fan, and ordered me to escort this lady to the East. Of course, I had to speak with these soldiers first, and they took some convincing." He gave a sideways glance at Breda. "So I contacted a friend from the Han Clan. He helped us enter Amestris." No-one had noticed the female Second Lieutenant flushing slightly at being addressed as 'lady'. "We had entered the country using a secret route, and in exchange for using that route, these soldiers told us the secrets of Barry's body."

"Mr. Fu was a good escort. He did not overuse violence like Barry, and knew that I could still handle myself, and just acted as an extra pair of eyes." She smiled at the old man, and he acknowledged it with an incline of his head.

"To arrange a link-up here was another of my orders," Breda continued.

"And I was to wait at Rizenbul and receive communications from Second Lieutenant Breda," Armstrong added. "I was also to bring Edwina Elric along while making it seem natural. So my first through was an automail repair. Though I had to turn it into, well, a kidnapping."

"Speaking of which, when _can_ I get my arm repaired?" the female alchemist asked in a disgruntled tone. She was infuriatingly ignored and went quiet again.

"Well, now that everyone is caught up, let's get down to the other reason we're here – to exchange information." Breda paused and reached into one trouser pocket and pulled out a small black book, marked with tabs of various colours. "This is the information the Colonel obtained, and I'm in charge of bringing and sharing it here. From now on, we don't hide anything from each other as long as we're here."

Edwina was reluctant, but as she listening to the others expressing everything they knew, she opened up as well. Armstrong assisted further by drawing up pictures. He was now working on Lust, from what the Flame Alchemist had confided in him, perfect pictures of Envy and Greed already on the ground.

"So, the busty one is Lust," Edwina concluded as they went over everything.

"The wispy one is Envy. He brought Edwina out of the lab…" Ross remembered.

The blonde cringed at the thought of that _thing_ touching her while she was unconscious.

"And the leader of that gang is Greed, who is presumed dead along with his gang," Armstrong reminded everyone.

"Homunculi are real…the Young Mistress will be pleased," Fu said to no one in particular, speaking for the first time since his explanation of Maria's escape. "This country is rather…amazing…"

"It might be worth meeting up with Dr. Marcoh again," Breda suggest. "Apparently, he has been studying up on them even more lately."

"Yes, yes, that's a good plan," the Strong-Arm alchemist agreed with a nod as he put away his pen.

"I just want everything sorted so I can go back home and back on duty," Ross said in a slightly aggravated tone. "Surely _one_ of you must have realised I have nothing to do with the Philosopher's Stone or Hughes's death."

"You just have bad luck, My Lady," Fu said. "You do not have the eyes or aura of a cold-blooded killer."

"I guess it is safe to say you're not guilty, Second Lieutenant," the plump man spoke up again.

"Isn't it obvious?!" the black-haired solider snarled back.

"It's good," the man smiled, before reaching into his cloak. "I won't be needing this fella, then." He pulled out a rather powerful-looking pistol and everyone else, who in moment were huddled together, reeled back. "In the unlikely event that Second Lieutenant Ross really _is_ the culprit, I had orders from the Colonel to kill her after getting whatever information she had."

Silence and shocked or disgusted faces greeted him.

"She was reluctant in ordering it; she said there was no other way."

Still silence. Then Edwina spoke.

"So, Hughes really is gone…" the female alchemist muttered, her denial finally breaking. "Maybe I shouldn't have spoken to his wife…"

The male Second Lieutenant's head shot around to her, his eyes narrowing slightly. "You met up with Mrs. Hughes?"

"Yeah," the rather obvious teenager continued. "To give her the gist of what happened and to thank her for looking after us."

"You idiot!" Breda yelled. Everyone tensing up as the man reached out and grabbed the young woman by the collar of her cloak. "Don't you understand how dangerous it is to tell the victim's family about the event, especially before all evidence is gathered?!" He released her as he continued. "It seems like you never think things through! You little…brat!"

"We didn't have much of a choice, considering the circumstances…and well…just…just believe in me!"

"What the hell does _that_ mean?" the brunette growled.

The girl bowed her head. "Mrs. Hughes told us to keep going, to 'Walk forward down your path according to your beliefs'." Again, she unknowingly reached out and gripped her metal arm. "For those who have committed a forbidden act, there are people who are angry, there are people who co-operate, and there are people who give us support. For my sister and I, Mrs. Hughes is the last one, few of them that there are. I made a pact with Al to get back to our original bodies any way possible, and once we know the way to do it, there will be no going back, and no regrets. That's basically what Mrs. Hughes told us." A flash of rage entered her emotions, and her eyes narrowed. "But if that method involves sacrificing someone, I won't do it. We will protect them from it, even if they are willing to do it. We will protect them using these…_damaged_ hands. Furthermore, with all things considered, I think my pride also plays a big role in that. However, it wasn't until Hughes died, and his wife's words that I realised the limits of this body." The anger slipped away. "So I really am an idiot."

"You sure are, you're an idiotic, cocky little brat," Breda replied, standing up to look down the girl after everyone else remained quiet, now with concerned or intrigued looks on their faces. Expect the female soldier.

"Breda!" Ross yelled, jumping up as well, one of her hands clenched in a fist.

"However…" Breda couldn't hide the smile pulling at his lips. "You are an honest, noble idiot. Just give it all you've got."

The dark-haired soldier looked surprised for a moment, but along with her superior, smiled as the girl nervously grinned back.

"Anyway," Breda began, sitting back down. "What are you going to do?" He addressed the other Second Lieutenant.

"Well, as I said, I want to go back on duty as soon as possible, but I suppose I still need to hide until things have completely settled down. So I'm accepting Mr. Fu's offer to take me to Xing."

"All the way to Xing?!" Edwina yelped, leaping up. The woman chuckled in response. "Weren't you listening earlier? This man's mistress arranged with him and myself that I flee to the East." She looked sad for a moment. "It feels like once I set off, I can never return to Amestris…" The young alchemist also felt sad.

"Don't worry, My Lady," Fu said, his voice unusually kind. Mr. Han was saddling up the horses as he listened. "I will have my whole clan take care of any necessity you require."

"At least let us tell your parents you are alive and safe, Second Lieutenant," Armstrong suggested, walking forward and placing a hand on her shoulder (he wasn't going to attempt another hug).

The short-haired woman's forlorn expression changed to a frown, her head giving a small shake as she replied. "In the unlikely event that my parents found out I am alive, they would no doubt tell everyone they know, and we wouldn't be able to repair the damage it would do. For parents who had a daughter declared a murderer and then murdered herself, they have gone enough heart-break. While my turning up alive would make them happy, they would just fall back into sadness when having to see me off."

"First Sergeant Brosh has also fallen into a depression over this. Can I not at least—"

"No, don't!" the female Second Lieutenant yelped, waving her hands in a slight panic. "Brosh can't keep a secret or tell a lie to save his life!"

The Strong-Arm Alchemist sniffed, the hand on the other younger officer's shoulder shaking.

Ross placed her own hand over it. "Please keep your spirits up, Sir. Things will get better. Everything will be resolved, I know it."

Fu and Mr. Han mounted their horses as the female Second Lieutenant approached hers. Once by it, she turned back and said, "Sir, could you and the other Second Lieutenant here convey this to Colonel Mustang? – 'If not for your plan, I would have been waiting on death row. I am grateful for being able to leave with my life.'" The two male soldiers nodded. "And, Major, if there is an emergency, do not hesitate to call me back." She stood to her full height, her chest puffed out as she saluted. "To pay my debt of gratitude, I will use the life I have reclaimed to be of absolute use."

Upon seeing the other soldiers salute in response, Edwina raised her hand to do the same, but the woman walked over to her and, like the Major had to her, placed a hand on the teenager's shoulder, along with a gentle smile. "Edwina, keep your spirits up as well."

After a few failed attempts, the fifteen-year-old managed a smile, and took the woman's hand, the both of them squeezing each other's' in a comforting, 'good luck' manner.

"I owe you one slap in the face," Edwina said, trying to keep the mood light.

"Next time, then," Ross replied with a laugh.

"'Next time'…I hope so…" the almost-bald man muttered to himself.

The three soldiers watched them until the sands seemed to swallowed them

"You have good comrades there, even the girl," Fu commented to Ross as he looked back and the now-unable to be seen group.

"Mr. Fu," the dark-haired female began, not looking back at him. "What kind of country is Xing?"

"We are rich in people and food, and our pockets and hearts are deep. Like everywhere, it has its flaws, but it is still an excellent country."

Ross took a moment to reply. "Would it be ok if I thought that, once we crossed this desert, a paradise awaits me?"

A little confused, the old guard responded, "It will feel that way, as this is a most harsh journey."

He looked at the woman beside him and saw the hidden sorrow. "Do as you told your companions, My Lady. Keep your spirits up. We cannot afford to waste any more water."

At the ruins, the three soldiers were preparing their own horses.

"Going back through the desert…just thinking about it makes me want to pass out," Breda was grumbling.

"Oh, can we just wait a bit more?" Edwina asked. "There's something I need to check."

"What is it exactly? I will accompany you," Armstrong stated.

"No, it's ok," The girl was already running, her limp automail flapping against her side. "I'll be back shortly!" The two men shook their heads.

As she headed back upstairs a man a woman, one robed and the other in a bandana and tank top, their feet bare and bandaged, turned to each other in their corner and nodded. Slowly and silently, they drew out their weapons and followed the blonde. As the Fullmetal Alchemist arrived at her destination, her eyes narrowed in concentration as she looked up at the symbol she had passed.

"Comparing to a normal Transmutation Circle, this is something much more powerful," Edwina mumbled to herself she walked around, taking in the pentagon and noticing the writing around the edges that she had not before. "Is that the Xerxes language?" She moved around the side a bit and noticed the Amestris-esque Dragon had two heads. "Five suns, a two-headed dragon, and ancient text…" the girl put it together inside her head as she paced up and down. "It looks like the one in the Fifth Laboratory but…" She glared at the missing piece of roof. "If only one piece wasn't missing! And just when I—"

Just then, she heard a heavy swishing noise behind her and turned around just in time to jump with surprize before sidesteping as a dark-skinned, bandana-wearing man swung a wooden club at her head. As the man took another heavy swipe, she quickly grabbed his outstretched arm in her own left one, anf used her automail leg to sweep his legs out from under him. He landed on the floor with a grunt, and the golden-eyed teenager twisted the arm behind his back as she used her automail knee to further keep him pinned.

"What is your intention?" she asked in as threatening voice as she had. "I don't have any money, so you can forget mug…" her voice faded out as the man managed to turn his head to glare at her. "You're Ishvalan?"

She heard another noise behind her and looked behind to see a blur of black and white rushing at her. Instantly, she released the man on the ground, and, with no other options, blocked the blow with her left arm, the machete blade slicing a thin, but thankfully not very deep wound. Edwina still hissed in pain. The man decided to stand back and watch in glee. For a moment, she had time to look at her second attacker – a short-haired Ishvalan woman, looking to be in her late twenties and dressed a long black tunic with an open, hoodless robe over it and bandages disappearing into her sleeves. Her feet were bare, and the girl glanced bandages on her legs.

"I had a feeling you weren't alone," Edwina said to the man as she sidestepped another swing, bringing her closer to him. She paid no attention to the droplets of blood sprayed on the ground or oozing from her arm. "A simple thief wouldn't come all this way."

The girl evaded at least five more attempted slashings and stabbings before the woman took a few steps back, placing the blade in an inside pocket in her robe.

"Giving up?" Edwina taunted. "What kind of —" Suddenly, it was she who was on the ground. The woman had tackled her, head first. They crashed onto the hard ground, leaving the alchemist momentarily winded. The woman straddled the blonde's waist and pinned her wrist above her, before re-drawing her blade and placing it at her throat. The teenager found herself admiring the woman's raw, muscular power.

"I'm sorry but you can't collect a ransom for me, as my parents are no longer around," Edwina said calmly, still feeling she could taunt.

"We are not here for money," the woman spoke up in an equally calm but intimidating tone. With it so close, the alchemist noticed a burn scar that covered the right half of her face and travelled to the side of her neck. "For the liberation of Ishval's sealed-off areas, as well as the request for the national army to pull out of the of holy lands, which they tread and defile, you will become our hostage, young lady." Edwina suddenly noticed two more Ishvalan men, standing behind the first, appearing middle-aged or older (their natural white hair often made it hard to know), bearded and clad in pale-coloured and hooded robes with cloth wrappings.

"Well, _that's_ a stupid plan," Edwina replied bluntly after accessing the situation. "You think the Military's going to drop everything just to save one brat? I'm a solider too, you know."

"Public opinions can be changed," the woman went on. "…like seeing the army kill children, for instance. The Ishvalan rebellion started over the shooting and death of one of our children."

The blonde's widened for a moment. She had forgotten about that.

"Do you not understand the motives for such actions, girl?" one of the older men, with a scar on his cheek, asked. "It is to prevent such pain and suffering happening again."

Suddenly, a much younger voice spoke. "Lady Shan! Please stop!"

The teenager, woman and men looked to see a young boy and an old woman, moving towards, the child, worry etched on his features, running while the woman, in her hunched over figure, did some kind of trot with her walking stick.

"This brat is insulting the name of Ishvala," the late twenties female snapped at him.

"Even so, this is not the way to act." The old woman addressed the entire group sternly. They all froze. "This young woman has done nothing to us bar defend herself. A hostage would only make things worse. We would be as bad as our enemies."

The machete-wielder refused to move. The bare-footed boy, one eye blind and his neck and shoulder mottled with burn scars, moved closer to her timidly. "Please, Lady Shan, release that girl," The woman saw tears in the child's eyes as he spoke quietly. "She doesn't look that much older than me. How can you even think of such a thing…?" Flashing a venomous glimpse at the Amestrian, she stopped and re-joined her fellows, putting the knife back once more.

The leader approached Edwina as she stood, brushed herself down and adjusted her coat.

"I apologise for the transgressions of my followers." She told her.

"It's fine," the blonde replied. She noticed the woman wore a dirt-stained eye patch.

"My dear, would you please take care of this young woman's wound?" the boy stepped towards the girl, slowly, pulling out a cloth and a tiny bottle of cleaning alcohol from his trousers pockets as she did so. As he cleaning and wrapped the cut, the old woman continued to speak. "I know all too well the hatred between Amestrians and Ishvalans. However, as we were all driven from our land and chased to this wilderness, do not expect us to simply forgive your peers."

"Then why are you helping me? Again, I'm a solider too."

"As with all groups of people, we know not all Amestrians are evil. Our lives were saved by two Amestrian doctors."

Edwina's mind immediately went to the two Amestrian doctors she knew personality, but then thought it was too much of a convenience.

"My great aunt, Lady Shan and I were all treated by those doctors when we were injured in the Civil War," the boy spoke up again, his voice so gentle and constant to the others. "They told us that, as medics, it was their duty to treat everyone, regardless of what side they were on. For what happened in Ishval, I bear hatred towards even honest people like you, but because of those two people that I cannot hate you as much."

Edwina acknowledged the boy's statement with a nod, her thoughts returning still on the two doctors. "If these really are the same doctors I know, a married couple who were sent to Ishval during the war…" Her fist clenched. "Then it seems my life was indirectly saved by them as well." She glanced at the limp metal limb.

"Wait," the boy's voice rose slightly and he paused in wrapping the cut. "A pair of married doctors? Are you referring to the doctors Rockbell?!"

"Eh?" the girl surprised teenager responded a slightly high voice. "You know of them?"

"'Know of them?'" They were the ones who saved our lives! They were the ones who said that they had to treat everyone." The boy spread his arms out for a moment as he looked up at the sky. "You were aquatinted with those wonderful people too! It's must be fate that we have met you!" He looked back at the young woman, finishing up as he did so. "I feel my hate fading a little more." He smiled a little bit at the girl, while the other men and woman were exchanging looks and quiet words before looking back to the conversing trio. "'We have a son about your age', they told me." The boy went on. "I wish I could meet him, and give him my gratitude thoroughly!"

"Mr. and Mrs. Rockbell…what heroes," Edwina said, her lips also spreading into a small smile.

"Even when the rebellion worsened with the command to eliminate us all, they never left and continued saving lives until their last moments," the old woman told her.

The blonde's face instantly fell as she remembered Winter's sobbing form. "…How was their final moments?"

The leader and her grandnephew's faces also fell, the child's lower lip quivering. Eventually, the woman spoke again. "They were treating other patients when…they were killed by an Ishvalan." The girl's eyes expanded in horror while the Ishvalans bowed their heads, tears running down the child's cheeks. "And it wasn't just any Ishvalan, but one who's life they had _just_ saved!" In her mind the scene played out. She sat against along with everyone else, holding her grandnephew for protection, only able to watch as the man, uttering a scream of rage mixed with what seemed to be anguish, brutally dispatched the man and woman. They watched as the man stood from the bodies, blood dripping from one hand, glaring at them all, before he turned and run out down the street and disappeared. "There was nothing we could do; we were so shocked and afraid. We were cowards."

"Who and where is this man?" Edwina growled through clenched teeth.

"His face and most of his body was bandaged, so we could not identify him. But we do know this – he had a tattoo on most of right arm, and was a Warrior Priest." Edwina nodded once, her eyes still narrowed. "The operation to exterminate us started soon afterwards. As soon as it did start, the makeshift hospital fell in the hands of the Military. Lady Shan and I barely escaped with my grandnephew, but others were not so lucky." The woman bowed her head. "I just hope they did suffer too much…"

"I see. Thank you for telling me this." With that, the golden-eyed girl started walking, heading towards the staircase.

"You are leaving?" The group leader asked.

The girl stopped and looked back. "Yes. I think I've made my own group wait long enough."

"If I may give you one order – if you have the chance, could you visit the Rockbells' tombs to express our thanks and…apologies?"

"Especially mine," the boy croaked. "Since I guess their son might not want to meet me after learning what happened to his parents."

"I will," the alchemist replied solemnly. _But I'm not telling Winter anything. He's suffered enough._

When she returned to Armstrong and Breda, they had not suspected a thing, but were thinking about looking for her. After making up an excuse about her cut ("I tripped and scarped my arm….and well…I'd stolen some bandages from the hospital just in case, so…") apologising to them for the wait, they mounted their horses and made the exhausting trip back. Armstrong was surprised by how quiet his young friend was. Breda did most of the speaking (and complaining) and did wonder if something more had happened during her absence).

They arrived back at Rizenbul hours later, and it was too late to get a train as the evening was rolling in (the small village did not need many of them).

"Thank you very much, good sir," Armstrong said to a kind villager, one of Trisha's once-friends, who had offered them his covered wagon. Breda just stared at it with the air of a moody child. He just wanted to sit somewhere comfortable and take a nap.

"Oh, I'll need to get my arm fixed first," Edwina remembered as she put the sand cloak into the back of the wagon.

"Oh, yes, that's right. Shall I accompany you, this time? I'd like to see Mrs. Pinako Rockbell again."

"No, sorry, I'd like to on my own again," Edwina replied, feeling for some reason, guilty. "But I'll tell her you were asking for her."

"Well, thank you. We'll be waiting here."

Breda sighed, but saluted as Armstrong waved her off again.

As she walked with one hand in her pocket, Edwina looked at the graveyard, and decided now was a good a time as any. After waiting for a farmer and his sheepdog guiding his held back to their home (she smiled at the familiar scene) to pass, she headed in. However as she opened the gates, she saw a figure standing over her mother's grave. Suspicion and a strange protectiveness becoming her emotions, she quietly approached the man. However, as she a got a proper look at him in the fading sun rays, she instantly stopped, her eyes widened for a moment before narrowing as she noticed his golden, ponytailed hair – her hair.

_He's…back?!_ The girl hissed inside her head, fists clenched as she moved around a little bit to and saw the man's bespectacled face. _After ten FUCKING years,_ _it happens like this?!_ She remembered standing outside her father's study so many afternoons and evenings, asking him why he could not come out and play. She remembered the one and only picture they had with all four of them together and that she and Alphonsa had hidden his face in disgust. She remembered standing there at only four-years-old, holding Alphonsa's hand, watching beside their mother as the man, with what _seemed_ to be a regretful expression, walked out the door. _This has to be some kind of cosmic joke!_ She had not noticed she had walked towards Hohenheim, and now stood only a few feet away from his side.

Upon noticing the footsteps, Hohenheim turned from the grave, and saw the girl, a girl with hair and eyes like his, who stood there with the most bitter expression he had ever seen.

* * *

**Author's Note: I feel like I finally did something interesting again, but I should really stop saying that (I feel like it is annoying you, dear readers), but Edwina's reunion with Hohenheim, was another part I was looking forward to writing . There will be a few differences there, hopefully.**

BTW, have you noticed the more subtle changes I have made, in regards to background or one-note characters?  
I'm also glad I could get this chapter out sooner than the last two .

Well, again, this is another note where I don't much to say. So enjoy.

Thank you ^_^.


	38. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38**

_**The Father before the Grave**_

"Ed…wina?" the man gasped as the girl's identity dawned on Hohenheim after a small tense silence. "You have sure…grown." He move around to the girl's side to look at her blonde locks, the teenager's eyes following him, her teeth still gritted as she breathed through her nose. "And you've grown out your hair. Your mother was so worried you would demand it be kept short forever. And it's in the same style as mine."

"Why are you saying things like that?!" Edwina growled, more so at the fact that he sounded impressed rather than simply the statement.

The man moved back around to face his daughter. "You've gotten quite a reputation in Central. The 'smallest State Alchemist in history'."

"It's '_youngest'!_" she snarled.

The older blonde took another moment to reply. "I heard from Pinako that you performed a human transmutation…" he glanced down the alchemist's automail arm before looking back at the grave, "…to bring back Trisha."

"Like you can talk about her, you fucking bastard! Like you have the cheek to even _show up!_"

"Why in the blue blazes are addressing your father like that? Fathers and daughters are supposed to have a special bond."

"You're not just any bastard, you're _the_ Bastard! If you weren't in front of mother's grave right now, I'd beat the _shit_ out of you!" Edwina her shaking flesh fist to prove her point.

The man turned around completely, grazing back at the headstone. "…How did she die?"

"How?! Because you left! You made her go through so much hardship!"

"I just needed some time. I have an important task to complete. And I need a little more…just a _little_ more…"

"What?! You were planning on leaving her even _longer_ than this?"

"I promised you I would be back."

"You don't know much work a single woman has to go through in raising a family and handling a household!"

"Trisha…why did you just leave me like this…" the man sniffed.

Still obvious to the fact that man was longer listening to her rage, she grasped her head in exasperation and cried, "We're not even communicating on the same wavelength! You came back so late you don't even have a place to stay anymore! Why the hell did you come back anyway?!"

The golden-haired man turned his eyes away from the stone again and to down the path which once led to the handsome building. "Why was it burnt down? There's not a single thing left. Trisha and I build that home all by ourselves."

"Without a home to return to, there is no going back," the girl repeated. "It was a sign of resolve."

"You're wrong," her father replied suddenly and sharply. "It is because you do not want to see the remnants of your mistake." He moved around to face his elder child, stepping closer to her and looking down at her in a scolding manner behind his glasses. "It was for the sake of running away from the horrible images on your mind brought by it. It was to erase the evidence of what you had done. You're like a child who wets the bed and then hides his sheets. You are both still just children!"

The girl's expression waved for only a moment before she growled back, "No, _you're_ wrong! You weren't even there, so you don't know!"

"You were running away, Edwina," Hohenheim said, all the more harsh.

"You. Don't. Know!" Edwina sounded out.

The man's face softened. "I really do."

The girl huffed a breath and turned around, as she hurriedly walked the man asked, "Wait, didn't you come to visit your mother's tomb?"

"After doing something else, yes, but not in this mood, not with you here!" Edwina hissed, not looking back.

Picking up his suitcase, Hohenheim trotted after her. "You're going back to Pinako's then? So am I, since I have no-where else to stay. I heard she and Winter attend to your automail. It's so nice that that boy followed in her footsteps. How is it, having artificial limbs?"

"Stop following me!" the alchemist broke into a run.

Hohenheim found himself staring at her swishing ponytail as she ran. _She's exactly like me when I was younger._

Upon reaching Pinako's home, Edwina stomped upstairs without a word, went into Winter's room and slammed the door shut. Pinako debated whether to follow her or not. About ten minutes later, Hohenheim arrived and explained the situation to the suspicious woman.

"Where _is_ Edwina?" the blonde man asked after he had quelled the woman's anger.

"In Winter's room, though I wouldn't recommend you disturb her. Edwina has a formidable temper, as I'm sure you've seen. Did she try to punch you?" the woman replied, adding the question out of concern rather than taunting.

"No."

"Hmph, surprising."

"I'll just go check on her, just for a moment."

He headed upstairs and to his daughter's friend's room. Finding the door unlocked, he opened it a crack. Even without the strip of light, he could see his older child's splayed hair and metal arm as she lay on her side in to the bed, facing away from the door. Still keeping quiet, the man slipped into the room. As he walked over to the bed, his mind replayed yet more memories. He remembered Edwina ambushing him on the way to his office, putting down her baby sister to tug at his trouser leg as she asked him to play with them after lunch, just this once, which Alphonsa, seeming to know what was happening, grabbed at his shoelaces and looked up right at his face. He remembered those many times where the older girl would stand outside his office well past her bedtime, hoping he would tuck her in. He remembered the day they were getting their family photo, and how happy his children were to see him with them and their mother all morning.

Now at the girl's bed, he reached out to stroke her hair, for some reason hoping it would make up for the blatant neglect - but stopped short. Feeling extremely guilty, he turned and walked back out the door, closing it quietly behind him. Edwina waited until his footsteps had faded before opening her eyes.

"Human Transmutation is an incredibly stupid thing to do, never mind dangerous," Hohenheim said as he retook his place at the kitchen table. His friend noticed the guilt in his eyes, and poured him a glass of whisky as well. Den who was lying in the corner, kept her eyes fixed on him and her ears pricked. "Why didn't you at least scold them?"

"In that situation the ones who would scold and punish them would be the parents, and by that I mean you. I'm sure Trisha would have."

Hohenheim took a moment to reply as he a sip of the alcohol. "I wouldn't know where to begin."

"Why didn't you make even a phone call back?" Pinako asked, quickly and sternly returning them their original conversation. Trisha waited so faithfully for you! If you were around, Trisha might not have died, and even if she did, those girls would not think to try to resurrect her, as you could have helped them grieve! Instead those poor kids saw her die twice!"

"Resurrecting Trisha…" Hohenheim said thoughtfully. "Pinako…you…you disposed of the transmutation results, right?"

"Yeah," said woman replied, feeling suspicious.

"Was it really Trisha they made?"

"What? I told you, it was barely human. To be honest, I'm not really sure it was her…but it _had_ to be. For the girls to go through all that pain and mutilation and make something completely unrelated to them…such a horrible thought!" The woman slammed her glass down on the table in growing anger. Den sat up.

"I'm afraid that's what I'm trying to say," Hohenheim said in a saddened tone. "The hair, the eyes, the voice, were they anything like hers?"

The older Rockbell remembered again, and that horrible realisation dawned on her. However, she shook it away to say, "So you're saying it was all their fault? You're not taking in account your absence?! How many times am I going to repeat myself?!"

"Not so loud," her friend raised a hand as he lowered his voice to a hiss, "You want to wake Edwina, do you? You don't want her to know this, right?"

But after having stuck downstairs after seeing it was clear, Edwina had heard everything. Her eyes wide and mouth agape from the same realisation as her aunt, she slipped back upstairs, trying to recollect her mind.

After they finished the drinks, the both went to bed. The next morning, as Hohenheim was packing, Pinako thought that Edwina might have calmed down by now, and called upstairs: "Ed? Are you asleep?" There came no reply and she turned to her friend. "Do you want me wake her up to say goodbye?"

"No, I don't think she'll want to see me leave again," the man replied, his tone sad again, though only for that sentence. "But thank you for helping me."

The woman was confused, but replied. "You're welcome," before noticing the man's eyes were wandering. She watched as he spotted the board of pictures, and with a curious expression, approached it. She watched a small smile appear on his face as he examined the pictures, and in that technical way again, saw his children grow. Then his eyes found the best picture of all – the family one – but frowned for a moment upon noticing his face was hidden behind the others.

"Can I have this?" he asked as he gazed at the picture, at Trisha's and Edwina's smiles, at Alphonsa's curious look, and his own expression upon lifting one of the others. He felt the tears pricking again.

"You can take as many as you like," the old woman told him, also noticing his almost-watering eyes.

"No, this one will be fine. This is the only one with the four of us together," the man replied, looking at the image a moment more before tucking it inside his coat and walked back over to his suitcase to pick it up. "You are indeed a fine fellow, Pinako," Hohenheim said, his mostly-there smile appearing again. "From the old days, you looked at my unchanging being with suspicious eyes but still welcomed me. All I can for now in gratitude is to give you some instructions that will be good for good for you."

"Hm?" the older Rockbell said, that suspicion growing.

Bathed in the sunlight of now opened door, the man replied, "Soon a terrible event will occur in this country. Flee to another, or you will be caught in it like everyone else."

"This degenerating country his always had terrible events." Her face changed to a defiant, slightly angry frown. "Why should I run away now? Moreover," she glanced at backboard. "This is the only place those girls will return to."

Another moment of silence pasted. "Well, I did warn you."

He stepped outside and began down the path.

A thought striking her, the mechanic trotted outside. "Hohenheim!"

The man stopped and looked back, feeling inquisitive again.

"Come back every now and then for a meal, eh?"

The man nodded and turned away again, waving until he heard the door close.

"It's a shame Pinako," he said, again holding back the tears. "I'll never get to eat your meals again."

* * *

Alphonsa, Winter, Ling and Ran Fan were back in the hotel room together, after Alphonsa had taken a rather important phone call. The armour girl sit on one bed, the blonde boy in the other, and the Xingese duo sat on the couch, side-by-side. Lan Fan of course still had his mask on.

"Your father?!" Winter gasped after, cutting across the explanation for a moment.

"That was pretty much my reaction," the younger Elric replied. "He's been missing for almost ten years, but it seems he's now back home…"

"That long, huh…" It struck the boy that he had never actually met Van Hohenheim.

"You should go meet him," Ling said enthusiastically.

"If I did, I'm not sure we would talk," Alphonsa replied, tapping her bandaged chin.

"You hate him?" the young woman assumed.

"'Hate?' No, not hate, just dislike, though I still care for him. But if I could, I would like to talk to him about alchemy. Having grown up reading his books, I saw my father is extremely capable in that area." Suddenly, she slapped her hand onto her her face. "Oh no. If Nee-san's there at the same time as Father, she'll pointlessly oppose everything he will say about Alchemy, due to her hatred." She shook her head as much as the bandages would allow. "I wouldn't be surprised if she thrashed him."

"I can imagine that…" Winter said sadly.

"I agree, judging on what you have said."

Another thought struck the younger Elric and she looked at the Xingese woman. "How's your relationship with your father?"

She took a moment to reply. "I don't know whether we have a good rapport or not. We've never shared a conversation."

"Oh, I'm sorry," the girl bowed her head as much as the bandages would allow. "Should I not have asked?"

"…I offer my sincerest sympathies," Winter added, wanting to hug the girl.

"Oh, please, it's not like that!" Ling replied in a slightly agitated manner. "He's just not an easy person to talk to. He's the Emperor." Her expression changed to that of both slyness and curiosity. "What do you make of that?"

"The Emperor of Xing?" the blonde boy asked, supposing it was some kind of codename.

"Indeed," the woman replied with a proud smile.

The boy took in a sharp breath and in unison, the two Amestrians declared, "That makes you a princess!" In their minds, both were imagining the typical image of a young woman in a medieval fairy tale dress and tiara, riding a horse gracefully in side-saddle, a gentle smile on her face, her cheeks rosy and hip-length hair flowing out behind her. They both giggled like a pair of immature school girls, falling back on the beds, the boy holding his stomach.

Ling looked at her servant. "Lan Fan, am I being made fun of?"

"U-Unfortunately so. Shall I do something about it?" the boy felt nervous for more than one reason this time. He really did not want to do anything to them now, not even the girl who had tied up Fu.

"No, no, I'll take care of it."

The young guard breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

"Why is this so surprising?" Ling asked, having to speak a bit loud for the other two hear her over their laughter. "Didn't you wonder why a 'wanderer' would have bodyguards? Please stop. I'm not a 'princess' as you Amestrians would think. I'm simply a daughter of the Emperor."

"T-this is just too much for us," the automail mechanic said, after the two had laughed themselves out and he tried to catch his breath. "I'm sorry if I made you feel insulted."

"Well, thank you again for your kind words. Oh, and now that you know I'm royalty, do you have any more thoughts on my proposal? You could be the future Emperor. You could move up the 'social ladder', as your people would say." The would-be princess gave a sly smirk.

The boy gave another short laugh. "Well, much as I appreciate that offer, I can't accept because I have duties of my own. I have customers who need me."

"Wait," Alphonsa jumped back into the conversation, "How can a person of royalty get away with playing the vagabond and sponging meals off people?"

"We have tried to get her to stop but we can only advise her, being that we hold no authority," Lan Fan commented in a disgruntled tone.

"There are twenty-four Sons of the Emperor and nineteen Daughters of the Emperor," the Xingese woman explained, ignoring her servant's remark. "Xing is formed of the congregation of over fifty clans, and some hold more power than the others. A daughter from each of those clans is offered to the Emperor to become his concubine and bare his child. If they refuse, their status lowers. That is one of the reasons I want to become Empress. As much as it is a deep tradition, it is unfair on the women of the country and I want things to be more equal. However, I am only the Twelfth Princess, my mother being the reprehensive of the Yao Clan, and as with all royalty, the men take the priority in succession." The woman's eyes were narrowed and her arms folded again. "However, the Emperor can choose a child as his successor, regardless of their gender or status, written as an Imperial Decree. He recently took ill and is bed-ridden. His royal doctors have realised he will not live much longer. This has started a succession war between the clans."

Before she could continue more, Alphonsa spoke again. "So that's why you are seeking the secret to immortality? So the Emperor will choose you?"

"But if you give him the secret of immortality, that would means you won't ever become Empress," Winter concluded.

"Gaining the secret to immortality will making the Emperor happy, even if for a short while. While he lives on, he will rise my clan's standing for my efforts. When that happens, I'll give it a little while more before I seize the throne." The Amestrians just looked shocked, staying silent. "In coming to this country, I hold the fate of the five hundred thousand members of the Dao clan in my hands. I'm depending on nothing more than the Philosopher's Stone and the legends surrounding it." She sharply pointed a finger at the younger Amestrian. "I know the secrets of your body and being a soul affixed an iron body, and without that perishable organic body, you are the closed thing to an immortal, apart from those creatures we met. Your method just seems easier."

There was more silence - then Alphonsa laughed. A deep, amused, taunting laugh. "You are such so stupid if you think this is good. Let alone being immortal, with this shell I cannot experience so much as touch, never mind the simple joys of normal life. This body is nothing more than a time bomb."

The Xingese girl's softened in an apologetic manner.

* * *

Mustang sat on the couch outside her hospital room, an IV drip in one arm and her notebook on her lap. After a few days recovery, the doctors had allowed her to walk around the ward, Hawkeye of course right by her side, while another officer was assigned to Havoc (and to his disappointment, it was not a woman). The Colonel looked up from the medical book she had found as a familiar man slumped down next to her with a huff of air.

"What are you in for?" she asked the man, upon recognising him.

"Lumbago," the doctor replied sharply as he chewed on a toothpick and looked the solider up and down, and wondered just how she had so injured, having not seen wounds like those outside of the border wars or Civil War.

"Having to stand for the whole day can take a toll on the body."

There was a pause before the man suddenly replied, "That was a very good trick you pulled, Ms. Mustang."

At her side, Hawkeye stiffened in suspicion, his eyes fixing on the man named Dr. Knox, but the woman herself still remained calm as she closed the medical book she had requested and lowered it and her voice. "So, you guessed I was scheming, yet you still identified that corpse as Second Lieutenant Ross?" The woman gave a small chuckle.

The man's fists clenched. "It should have been like I said – 'couldn't you have just intimidated her or something' – or at least have burnt her with more skill. The way that thing's limbs were bent was almost laughable. However, since the teeth matched perfectly, it was able to be passed off as the Second Lieutenant. If the coroner wasn't me, your plan could very well have been ruined. Sometimes not even you can account for everything." He was about to change the conversation by inquiring about the woman's health when a more important question pushed its way forward. "…Speaking of which, was it you who started that fire at the prison?"

The Flame Alchemist bowed her head slightly. "Yes. Sorry about that. I got into a fight, and well, anger and alchemy do not mix well."

"You know, I'm amazed. You expected me, whom you've never even seen since Ishval, to help you."

"We _were_ war buddies. And still are, I would think."

"But 'war buddies' is such a causal relationship and hardly any go beyond the conflict. However, I do miss those days. You burn them, I dissect them." Knox shook his head. "The war was nothing more than one humongous testing ground for what the human body can suffer." He bit down hard on the piece of wood in his mouth, snapping it. "We never were war buddies. We were accomplices." The doctor stood, deciding to wait somewhere else for his treatment. "Let me give you some long-needed advice – doing such risky, almost amoral things will result in retribution one day."

Mustang's eyes were back on the book. "I've already received it."

The man's eyes switched to the page. "Who's the patient?"

"One of my subordinates. His spinal cord was injured in his last fight and he's paralyzed from the waist down."

"…There's not really much that can be done about that," Knox replied, then wondered for a moment why his voice had gone soft. "There is rehabilitation for injuries such as that, but few get the motivation to even try, and even fewer succeed."

In the hospital room, Falman paused the conversation to hold out an ash tray to catch the blackened end of the cigarette.

"They only let me have one a day, just let me enjoy it, ok?" Havoc told him in a disgruntled manner. "So, after you guys had caught up to each other, where did she go?"

"To Xing. She's going to stay there until the situation settles." Falman replied, his attention caught by the hearting side of two children playing with a ball on the grass, the smiling boy's nurse helping him stand up from his crutches to catch it as his female friend raised it. "I gave the information I had to the Colonel and she said it 'changes this situation a little'."

"I hope that's a good thing," Havoc said, following the other's man gaze to the children, but instead of feeling some hope, he felt jealousy. The boy only had a broken leg. "I'm going to be laughed at as 'the soldier who retired from service because he got stabbed by a woman'."

"Have you thought about getting automail?" Breda asked, getting irritated by the man's lack of optimism.

"No. The nervous system in my lower body's been completely served, so it's impossible. Besides, useless as they are, I don't want my legs amputated."

The other Second Lieutenant sighed. "You _will_ still stay in the Military. And you _will_ find something useful to do until you can walk again." He slammed the door as he left, but made sure it stayed open just a little bit, just in case.

Hawkeye felt a little worried as the plump man briskly walked up to him and the Colonel with a rather foul expression.

"Hey, Ma'am, can I see the notebook a minute?" he asked gruffly.

"No, not yet," Mustang responded dismissively, not looking up from the writing around the spinal diagram.

"But it's about Havoc, I have an idea," Breda said, leaning closer and raising his arm. "Doctor Marcoh."

The sharpshooter was now also leaning in close, his expression still concerned. The dark-haired woman quickly closed the medical book shut and opened her notes, her mouth in that concentrated frown. Finding the correct tab, she read to herself. _The medical field alchemist with a Philosopher's Stone. It's so obvious! If only I had thought of that…and much earlier…_

"Can I extend my leave, Ma'am?" the brunette asked.

"Do whatever it takes. Go!"

The man's mood instantly lifted and he turned and walked even more briskly towards the door.

* * *

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" the ten-year-old girl yelled as Dr. Marcoh cleaned the burn on her hand as gently as he could. "All done." He said after one more dab of the cleaning alcohol. "You were pretty tough there, you know," he said with a kind smile as he wrapped a fresh bandage. "Taking pain like that without crying is much braver than lighting ten fireworks in a minute."

"I said sorry," the guilty child said sheepishly before glancing at her father. "Mum grounded me for a week and Dad's making sure I don't sneak out."

"What do you say now?" her father asked as he held out her coat.

"Thank you, Dr. Mauro," the girl said in a monotone while pouting.

"You're welcome. Try to be good." The man replied, before waving to them. They waved back, the girl keeping her sullen expression as she closed the door.

"Hm, that's…nine this morning," the man said to himself as he watched his tools for his next patient. "I guess I can take a break."

As he sat down with a cup of tea and a sandwich, someone else knocked on the door. The medical alchemist sighed. "Every time…"

"Yes?" he asked he opened the door. Then he immediately tried to close it.

"I just wish to talk, Dr. Marcoh," Breda told him after sticking his foot in the door.

"It's Mauro," Marcoh replied. "I think you have the wrong person. I get this a lot. Now please leave."

"Don't play innocent with me." The soldier's face took on a dark look and he placed a hand on the door, opening it more. "You're the Dr. Marcoh who created a Philosopher's Stone."

"I don't know _what_ you're talking about. No-one can create Philosopher's Stone unless they have no morals."

The man's eyes widened as a black-clad, round man in a cloak peered out from behind the soldier, drooling. "Can't I just eat him?"

His eyes wide in fear, Marcoh tried to quickly slamming the door shut, but Breda easily shoved it fully open, almost breaking it, and causing the doctor to lose his footing as he was pushed back.

"What are you getting so worked up for, Doctor?" the officer said as he approached him with that terrible grin. The man shuffled away on his back. "It's been a long time." Envy said as it changed back into its favoured form. I'm so happy you remember me." It walked up to the man again as the morph completed. "It seems that Lust had some assistance from you a little bit ago. She's sadly dead now, so I've come to visit instead. Gluttony just tagged along."

The younger homunculus had his nose on the ground. "It smells like Lust!" his expression fell. "It smells like Lust…"

"W-why did you come here?" the man asked, trying to hide his fright beneath his anger.

"She was right," Envy went on. "This is 'such a cheap clinic'. If you were still in the military, you'd have a fully equipped laboratory given to you. Why would any human willingly live like this?" It crouched in front of the man with an amused expression. "Now, now, no need for that fierce look. There's no reason for us to hurt you. You see, we're running out of playing pieces and that vexes us." It grabbed the front of the Marcoh's shirt and pulled his face right close to its own. "Let's work together again! Come to Central!"

The man screwed up his face to avoid letting the tears fall. "Just leave me out of this! Please!"

"Nope, you can't refuse." The wispy-haired creature drew the man up into a standing position by his shirt. "Just like Lust said, if you try anything, we'll wipe this town off the map." It's voice lower to a whisper on the second half of the sentence.

"Then just kill me!" the man cried desperately.

"You think you can escape by dying? So naïve." The creature's face spread into the frightening grin. "Those poor, _innocent_ Ishvalans, the convicts on death row, and even some of your fellow men – you killed them all to create a Philosopher's Stone. And here you are, living a peaceful, carefree life. You have no right to die so easily! So, as well as the crazy stuff, if you commit suicide or something, we'll wipe out this town. So don't put any resistance and everything will be fine. Easy to understand, right?"

As Envy spoke, Gluttony had sniffed his way over to one of the Doctor's cabinets. Curious he followed the familiar smell to a small bottle at the back and clumsy shoved aside the other bottles (knocking a few down to smash on the floor), and picked it up, gazing at the red liquid inside.

_A Red Stone?_ He asked himself. He held onto in his fist and followed his 'sibling as it drew the now silently weeping doctor towards the door.

A few hours later, the real Breda came to visit.

"Doctor," Breda called as he knocked on the door. "Doctor, my name is Second Lieutenant Breda. I need to talk to you."

"Oh, hello again," a straw-hatted farmer said upon seeing the man as he headed back to his cattle herd.

"Is the doctor here away?" the officer asked him. "Wait 'again'?"

"Either you have a bad memory or are a trickster. You visited here a while ago," the other man said with a chuckle.

"'A while ago?'"

"Yes, in your military uniform. Did you forget something in there?"

"This is my first time…" the man's voice faded out as a horrible thought entered his head and he drew out his gun before reaching for the handle and as he expected, found it unlocked. He rushed inside, the weapon raised.

"Damn!" he hissed upon seeing the damage of a struggle. "Damn you all to hell!"

* * *

**Author's Note: I think I put enough originality in again, dear readers :). BTW, I did not change Ling's royal number as it does not affect the story, just in case you were wondering.**

**So, did I put enough originality into Edwina and Hohenheim's interactions? I think I did ok.  
I hope you enjoyed it.**

**Thank you ^_^.**


	39. Chapter 39

**Chapter 39**

_**River of Mud**_

"My body could reject my soul at any time," Alphonsa was saying to Ling, the girl listening both regret and curiosity on her face. "It might be tomorrow, a hundred years or the very next minute. Do you understand? This is not even _close_ to immortally."

"But," Ling's expression changed again, this time to something akin to haughtiness. "If the state your body were to became dangerous, you could have your soul transferred to another body, surely? Not feeling any pain or needing to eat, it's rather convenient."

"You would quickly miss such—"

"It's a horrible way to live! What don't you get about that?!"

Everyone looked at the blonde boy, who had not realised he had stood up. He glared a moment more before bowing his head. "…Excuse me."

He hurried towards the door and slammed it behind him. When he did not return in the expected few minutes, the armour girl stood as well. "Excuse me, too."

She headed outside and turned to the boy's room. The Xingese teenagers peered from the door in the Elric's room.

"Winter," Alphonsa said, knocking. "Winter, can I come in?" Again, not to her expectations, the door was unlocked and she slipped inside before closing it again. Winter sat on his bed, clutching his pillow.

For some reason, she gave a laugh. "I know you and Nee-san have quick tempers, and I've come to know what triggers it, but you've never done that.

There was a long silence before the boy spoke. "…I was reminded of that night when Ling was blathering on about how 'good' your situation is."

_With his grandmother having gone to bed about half-an-hour ago, ten-year-old Winter applied a fresh damp cloth to Edwina's head, the girl only half-asleep, her breathing heavy. He reached out and gave his foolish friend's hair a final, comforting stroke. Then without thinking, though perhaps hoping it would help, he lifted up the cloth for a moment to press his lips to her forehead. He then picked up the bowl of water and walked out his room, rubbing his eyes and yawning as he did so._

_However, as he walked down the hall, he jumped, almost dropping the bowl. Still not completely used to the younger Elric's new appearance, he approached slowly as she sat against the wall near the room._

"_You still can't sleep?" he asked softly._

_The girl looked at him, trying to make some kind of sombre expression, but failed even in that. "It seems this body is unable to sleep."_

_The boy stifled a gasp as he walked closer to her to ask, "Are you cold?"_

"_No, I don't think so." Her glowing eyes were now stared right at the boy's face. "Winter – I – I don't think this body can feel anything. Not even just simple touch"_

_The blonde's eyes widened at the horror._

"_Before this, Nee-san and I would talk about alchemy and our future. Once we got tired of talking, we would go to sleep and sometimes even have nice dreams, while other nights they were horrible. But it's part of life. The nights seemed so short. But now…night is so long…so awfully long. I can't even lose myself in my own thoughts about alchemy or our future." The girl clamped her hands on her head. "I'm thinking of such awful things!"_

_Unable to contain himself any longer Winter dropped the bowl (sloshing some of its contents on the floor) and pounced on the girl, winding his arms around her neck (as he could put them around her body) and silently cried. Even though she could not feel it, Alphonsa felt her mood instantly lift and she wrapped her arms around him as well._

"It's just; to see people actually _wanting_ that …_'life'_…" the mechanic buried his face in his pillow as his voice cracked. "It just makes me physically sick!"

* * *

_She was running through towards it again. Every time she got close to Truth it darted backwards with a taunting laugh. It was the only visible shape in the endless blackness._

"_Give it back! Give it back, you piece of shit!" Edwina yelled at the being which had taken on a white, featureless version of her again, displaying her taken arm and leg. She didn't even jump when it sudden appeared right in front of, hanging upside and looking deep into her without the face to do so._

"_A body that cannot sleep. A body that feels no pain. A body that feels no warmth. A body that cannot cry. Remember, YOU did this, Fullmetal Alchemist! You convinced your sister to commit the taboo, and YOU bound her soul to that armour! You made yourself into only half a human! I'm merely the courier and keeper."_

_Faulting for a moment as that feeling came over her again, the teenager almost broke before she growled and swung a punch at the being. Of course, it missed. The girl looked around, trying to locate it. She jumped and spun around on her heel upon after hearing footsteps._

"_So you're really only doing this for your sister, Edwina?" Tucker asked while Nina-Alexander sat quietly by him, her head bowed. "It's for you, too, right?"_

"_I-I'd stay like this if it mean Al was back to normal," she said, her voice wavering and sweat beginning to pour off her brow._

"_How selfish." Now the Truth was right behind her, a familiar but as terrible grin on its face as the black arms of the Gate grabbed her, raising her up, but she did not offer any resistance. Moving around to her front, Truth cupped her face with her own arm "If you do that, she will feel guilty, and the search will begin all over again. It will turn into a cycle of guilt. But it's what you want to give…"_

_The girl looked behind her again as the arms pulled her backwards. Tucker and Nina-Alexander were gone, replaced by a giant eye. But she still did not resist, but steeled herself was for whatever was lurking beyond it._

"_Ed?" called a faraway voice. "Ed! Time to wake up! ED!"_

Edwina's eyes flew open. At least this time, only her forehead was sweating and she was not tangled in the sheets.

"Ed, it's nearly midday!" Pinako's scolding voice shot up the stairs. "You're as bad as Winter! Your father's left. You can stop hiding!"

Sitting up, the alchemist wiped her brow, and tried to shake away the remnants of the latest dream, hoping this time they would stop. Swinging her legs out of her bed, she slammed her metal fist down onto her stomach, hoping the pain and slight winding would drive away the returning image of that creature that was making her queasy. _Was it really not her…?_

Pinako was suspicious of the girl's silence during breakfast, but knew that, when she didn't want to talk, it was best to leave her be.

"It seems Winter has been training hard," Pinako said as she repaired the girl's automail after she had gotten washed. "Does it show?"

"Yeah, but he couldn't this time as he didn't have all his tools. He called you up?" the girl added, genuinely curious.

"Yes. He does so almost every day." The woman smiled. "Den and I are missing him, but we know he's following his dream." She paused to give a sly laugh. "I thought that he'd come running back here because training as an apprentice is so strict."

The girl laughed as well.

Once the automail was polished, Edwina gave the routine flexing and rotating tests. Then her thoughts wondered again

"…Aunty?" she said quietly.

"Hm?" the woman looked up from clearing away the tools to see a frown on her would-be niece's face, knowing it was concealing something.

"There's something I want your help with."

About a quarter of an hour later, with Edwina not even bothering to conceal her arm, she and Pinako headed down the path towards the remains of the teenager's house, shovels over their shoulders.

"This is the place," Pinako said, keeping her voice level as she pointed to a spot of raised ground were the back garden once was, but now was nothing more than barren soil. She heard stumbling footsteps behind her and looked around to see her surrogate child hunched over slightly, one hand gripping at her heart, the other hand trembling as it held the shovel. There was also more sweat, cold this time, beating down her face and her breathing had picked up.

"…No," the blonde replied determinedly, but looking at the ground. "My arms and legs hurt for some reason and it looks like the weather is about to change so I want to get this over with quickly."

Only a few minutes into their digging, the rain started. Suddenly, as they opened the grave and the smell seemed to plume out, Edwina fell to her knees, wrenching her head to one side to vomit.

"Ed!" the old Rockbell yelped as the girl coughed and gagged, dropping her shovel to rush over and place one hand on her back and the other her shoulder "Please, don't do anything unreasonable."

"My stomach…" the girl hissed. "It felts like it's being twisted in a knot!"

"Your traumatized!" the woman yelled before lowering her voice to a gentle comfort. "Let's stop. Let's go back."

The girl heaved for a trice before placing her quivering hand on her partially buried shovel as she tried to get back on our feet. "Remember, alchemists see the truth. Most see far more than some police officer or detective, and this is one of them. Letting things be settled because of a few good points isn't ok." She managed to stand up with her face resolute as she wiped her mouth on her sleeve. "I'm not going to run away again!"

And so they began digging again, the girl going at a ferocious pace, having to stop every now and then to vomit. The rain was pouring heavily down, and they had to use the bucket Pinako had brought to stop it filling the hole, but neither cared. Then the teenager's shovel hit something hard. After using it to clear away the remaining soil, she saw a large metal box. Without hesitation, she opened it (and immediately almost regurgitated again, but not because of the smell or sight). She reached in and plucked out a bundle of hair. "Aunty…" she began after a tense silence of a few moments before turning around. "This is black!" she wailed, her eyes full of horror before she flung the strands away. Setting the bloody and slightly rotted bones down on the ground, Pinako measured them while older Elric just watched in a huddled crouch.

"The femur and humerus bones are significantly longer than Trisha's," the old woman said, still keeping her voice level. "The ribs are too big and the pelvis clearly indicates this person was male." The woman paused to take a breath before mentally adding, _He was right…I knew it! Damn it!_ She saw Edwina fall onto her knees, leaning forwards to wretch out more stomach contents."_Oh, God…that's means Al really lost everything for nothing…those idiots! Those brats! Those…poor children…_

"Hahaha…"

The old woman felt a shiver run down her shine at the unexpected mirth.

Edwina threw her head back, spraying water from her messed hair as she cackled like a mad scientist. "HAH HAH HAH HAH!" still looking at the sky, she declared, "It really is true. The dead cannot be brought back no matter what you try! How truly of fool I was! I see it now! Now I see why it's such a taboo! It creates monsters!" her voice became a whisper as she lowered her head again. "How could I have been so naïve…?"

"Ed, be strong! Keep your head clear!" Pinako said in a commanding tone.

"It's ok, Aunty. I'm still me; I'm still going to complete my goal." Pinako only heard sadness and regret in that quiet voice. "From that say, _this_ was our true sign of hopelessness, but it will also serve as a symbol of hope." She crawled over to the brunt tree and grabbed a low-hanging branch in one dirt-covered hand to pull herself unsteadily to her feet. "The hope to return Al to normal, even at the cost of myself."

Pinako held onto her the whole way back home.

* * *

Yoki jumped at the sight of the small child lying at the entrance of the slum, a small, cat-like animal next to him. "Hello?" he called to him as he crouched down. "Can you move?" he poked the boy on the head. "Oi. Oi!" When the child still did not respond, he beginning riffling through his clothes. "Let's see, anything valuable?" A sharp and excruciating pain shot through his finger as the little creature next to the boy leapt up protectively and sunk her teeth deep into his finger. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" he screamed, waving his hand and spraying droplets of blood as the sheer pain made him cry. Realising that she had drawn blood, Xiao Mei relinquished her grip and jump down to stand in front of her 'brother', growling.

"I won't do anymore, I swear!" Yoki yelped, bowing down to the animal and not caring about the absurdity of it. He run over to the boy and picked him up while Xiao Mei watched. "See? I'm helping!" He dusted down the boy's clothes and hair, and began checking him for cuts. Understanding the gestures as good, the little creature relented. After a few moments, the boy's eyes flickered before opening.

"Are you…looking after me?" he asked upon looking up and seeing the man's face.

"Um, yes, yes I am!" Yoki said, trying to sound honest. The boy grinned before wearily shifting onto his knees (Xiao Mei having climbed onto Yoki's should to keep an eye on the both of them). "Thank you so much! What is your name?"

"Y-Yoki."

Mao bowed. "Thank you, Yoki-san! This country sure has such kind people!" He found the strength to stand. "Xiao Mei, what are you doing there?"

The creature was now on top of Yoki's head.

"I think she was worried about you," the man replied, moved his eye up to look worryingly at the pet's claws. "So was she was checking I was trying anything."

"Aw," Mao smiled again before extending his arm to his 'sister', who immediately hopped onto and climbed back to his shoulder.

"What's a young boy like you doing alone in a place like this?" Yoki asked, genuinely curious.

"I am searching for someone. Do you know of Edward Elric?"

"What?! That damn brat!" the man practically had steam coming from his ears. "I had such a terrible experience with that fella! She…" he went off on a rant about his former mines and disgraced military life, but the boy was not listening.

_Just as I thought, she's famous….oh, Edwina-sama! _His hands were on his cheeks again, his eyes closed as that beautiful woman walked gracefully into his thoughts again.

The man paused in his rant when he noticed the child's lack of focus. _Wait! She's a State Alchemist!_ A devilish grin appeared on his features but he turned away from the boy he did not see. _Why didn't I think of this sooner?_

"Yoki-san?" do you know where this person is?" the oblivious Mao asked.

The man tittered to himself. "My servant will find them."

In Central, standing in the circle of light emitted by one of the street lamps at the river, Scar had his hood drawn against the still quite heavy rain. Both he and the man with grey hair and a long moustache, dressed in a black, three-piece suit, white shirt, bow-tie, black cape and top hat, spotted each other at the same time.

The Ishvalan stepped around to face him. "Giolio Comanche?" he asked.

The man frown. "Yes? What do you wa…" he grinned. "A ghost of Ishval?" he pulled off his white gloves and placed them in the pocket of his jacket. "Not just any, but the one with a wound on his head? I heard you died in East City. I should have known, serial killers are not so easy to put down."

The other man pulled off one side of his coat to free his arm. "I will not go to Ishvala's side until I've sent all of you wretched State Alchemists to the grave."

"Hohoho, so, you know I'm the Silver Alchemist, and yet you still challenge me?" he raised his crossed over hands to reveal the symbols and writing covering the entirety of the underside of his hands. "You've met your match." With that, Comanche placed his hands on the ground, utilising the trace metals (along with those of the railing separating the ground and the river) to form chains with blades on the end, which he sent to his opponent with the speed and style of a striking scorpion. Scar silently threw himself to the side and denigrated the weapons.

"Hoho, I'd forgotten how much I missed this!" the man before pulling off his silver necklace and state alchemist watch, forming them into two circular blades, and a sword which he clenched between his teeth which throwing the blades with a spinning flourish. This time, the Ishvalan only matched to dodge one, but ignored the blood beginning to dribble down his left arm. Passing the sword to his left hand, the Silver Alchemist followed it up with more spikes, and Scar just barely destroyed those as well, but the other man swung around again, changing them to a wave which veered around the man before shooting back at the Ishvalan. The dark-skinned man jumped, but before he could land a flash of black and silver raced by him.

The silver alchemist laughed at as Scar looked down at the gash in his leg, adjusting his hat as he did so, now perched by his peg leg on a pole on the railing. "What a pity!" he declared. "I thought I had chopped that leg off. Oh well, it was still a fair result.

"For you, however, it will be more than just a scratch," Scar replied, now crouched on the ground. He shot out only a small bit of energy.

Comanche's expression barely had to time to change to horror before he topped into the water as his prosthetic completely cracked. Moving over to and reaching down through the bar, Scar grasped his face like so many others, but instead of delivering the finishing blow he held the thrashing man under the murky water.

His lungs quickly filling, the Silver Alchemist reached out one of his hands._ Got to find something! Stone will do! _His nails scraped the peer to no effect. _Transmutable materials! No! Nothing but water here!_

A few minutes later, he went limp, and Scar held him for a few more moments just in case, before letting him sink. As he walked away, leaving droplets of blood behind, the Silver Alchemist's hat bobbed to the surface.

* * *

**Author's Note: I'm glad I got this one out in a good time, dear readers. BTW. I did not change Ling's royal number as it does not affect the story, just in case you were wondering.**

**So, did I put enough originality into Edwina and Hohenheim's interactions,? I think I did ok.**

**Oh, and you know how I said I am writing an original story? Well I finally wrote the prologue :). Now I just need to figure how the fuck to start the rest.**

**I hope you enjoyed it.**

**Thank you ^_^.**


	40. Chapter 40

**Chapter 40**

_**The Nameless Grave**_

Edwina and Pinako were almost home when the teenager spoke again, coming to a halt as she did so. "Aunty, wait. I…I want to give that poor thing a proper burial."

"What? Really? But, what will you put on the headstone?" The woman wondered if the girl was delirious or just depressed.

"I don't know…but as it was lying there, it looked at me. It was human, if for an instant. It was a human I made…and killed. The least I can do is give it a place to rest."

Pinako had no choice but to follow as the older Elric headed back to the graveyard, and they re-dug out the box. The old women then helped the girl then dug a grave six feet deep and two metres by one wide, then they both carefully laid the bones out, looking like the person it once was, before refilling it. Edwina found the flattest and rectangular rock she could and placed it at the head of the grave, before kneeling before it respectfully.

_That thing isn't her mother, or even human, but she still calls it human…her definition is too wide. _ Pinako thought to herself as she stood a few paces behind her niece. _Wait! What am I thinking?! If that thing wasn't human then that would mean Al isn't either!_ She took a tentative step forward. "Ed, with not being Trisha, and Human Transmutation completely impossible, that could mean Al…the soul you transmuted…"

"Yeah," the blonde replied as she stood up. "Now I've got a few more things to confirm. First all, tell me honestly…are we really mum's kids?"

"What the hell are you saying?!" the woman cried, her fists clenched at her sides. "Of course you are! And you're Hohenheim's too before you ask that!"

"Ok…" placing the shovel on her shoulder, Edwina walked back down the path, leaving another trail of dirt in her wake. Giving her head a shake, Pinako followed. Once they reached the house, the teenager immediately headed to the phone.

"Cutris residence, how can— Ed? Is something wrong?" Izumi asked.

"No, no, I'm fine," Edwina replied. "I um…I wanted to ask you something. It…might seem harsh, what I'm about to say, so if you don't want to answer, you can just hang up. You've already broken our bond as Sensei and pupil, so…"

"Just say it," the woman said warningly.

"…Do you remember when you transmuted your child?"

Instantly, feelings of regret and sadness flowed over Izumi. "Yes. I'll never forget it." She remembered lying on the floor in agony, clutching at her bleeding side and staring at the dark grey skinned thing that look so much like a baby as it fell silent in a puddle of its own blood.

"Mrs. Cutris, the being that we transmuted wasn't our mother."

The older alchemist's eyes narrowed. "What are trying to say?"

"Was the child you transmuted really your child?"

For a moment, the woman's eyes expanded, before she practically threw down the receiver. Edwina looked down in shame.

Pinako stepped forward again. "Ed, would you mind coming to the graveyard one more time today?"

The girl looked up after a long minute. "Ok."

The old woman led her to two familiar, side-by-side headstones.

"You see, while my son and daughter-in-law lost their lives in the war, I'm proud as a parent, because they saved lives to the very end, despite the foolishness of falling to the pressure of the government. And even though you guys made an even more stupid mistake, I'm still proud of you, and I'm sure Trisha is too, as it was such a great show of love." She looked up at the blonde. "I'm assuming, from your travels, you've met Ishvalans?"

"Yeah."

"Then, I'm also assuming you know how my son and daughter-in-law died?"

Another long minute passed. "…No. I haven't." _I'm sorry I did do as I planned. I'm so selfish. _She added, addressing the two graves and hoped their owners could somehow hear her.

Pinako of course did not believe her. "…Ok."

Edwina spotted Trisha's grave a few metres away and in a lower, growling voice, said, "Where is the Bastard going now?"

"He didn't say."

The alchemist bared her teeth "He disappears right after he says all those things?! I was going to knock his brains out!"

"Oh, wait, I forgot!" Pinako spoke much louder than she meant to. "If you ever met him again, pass on a message."

"Why the hell would I—"

"It's from Trisha."

The girl instantly fell silent.

_That morning, Trisha had found the strength to sit up. "Pinako, I want you to tell him something if he ever comes back."_

"_No, tell him yourself when you get better!" Pinako was unable to hide the fear in her voice._

_The younger women shook her head before glancing out of the window. "Tell him I wasn't able to keep my promise. I'm going early, so I'm sorry."_

"What kind of promise was it?" Edwina asked, as they now stood before her mother's grave.

"No idea," the older Rockbell lied. "Just pass it on, please, at least so I know I did as she said. He might not be the best, but he's still your fat—"

"Pff. I bet he never wanted to be a parent!" she paused to draw a breath. "I'll tell him, right after my fist meets his face."

Pinako expected nothing less. "So you're going back to Central?"

"Yeah. Before Al gets mad at me." She smiled. "But I'll stay one more night. I can't miss a chance for some good food."

* * *

"I'm really sorry, Mr. Garfiel!" Winter cried out of a pang of guilt. "The financial supporter is not back yet, so I can't leave the hotel." Beads of sweat had already formed on his brow.

"What?!" the older mechanic shrieked down the line. "Only the worst of people would make someone worry about money! You give him one of your good scoldings when he gets back."

"Ha ha…ok. What about—"

"Now, don't you worry! I'm extending your holiday to make up for it. But you're going to need to make up for it when you get back!" the man said the second sentence in a song-sing voice.

"Y-yes, sir," the boy replied apprehensively.

As he turned away to go back up the stairs, he heard the front doors swing open and would have ignored it if it had not been followed with, "Hey, Winter."

"Thank goodness! I was getting so worried!" The boy cried. He moved behind the Fullmetal Alchemist and began pushing her towards the stairs at running pace.

"H-hey! What's the big rush?" she asked, struggling to maintain her balance as the boy shunted her through the hall and up the stairs. "Al needs you! Now!"

"I-I was going up to the room anyway. Let me go!" Edwina demanded, but her friend did not relent.

"_What the hell?!_" the teenager screamed upon seeing her sister, who had now gained the additional 'injury' of a fallen-off arm. "How the hell did you get like that?! What the hell have you been doing since I was away?!" She heard another noise, and turned to see Ling and Lan Fan at the table. "What are _they_ doing here?"

"Eating," the would-be-princess stated obviously, using a chicken drumstick to indicate the food-lading table though which the two of them were trawling. A few moments later, she was outside which that piece of chicken, Lan Fan following on foot, fearful of the Amestrian's expression as she grabbed and booted his mistress out the door. He again tried to help his mistress stand, ignoring her batting hands and scowling at the slammed door.

"You broke this just….spectacularly!" Edwina said, her voice angry yet apologetic as she ran her hands down the metal. She glanced over the broken pieces of armour Winter had laid out on the bed. "I'll need to use the surrounding pieces for the missing parts. That means the armour will be thinner." She suddenly noticed how silent the younger girl was. "What's wrong?"

The armoured being took another long minute before replying. She recounted her little 'adventure' as Edwina moved and shaped the metal, using the recovered scarps to help.

"Here I was hoping you guys would just be waiting and chatting, while I was away. It seems like destruction and danger follows us everywhere, and can even account for when we're separated," Edwina said with her eyes narrowed as she stepped back and Alphonsa, much like her, tested the flexibility and strength of her metal limbs after putting her helmet back on. "And a rejection between an incompatible body and soul…I had a feeling something like that could happen…"

"You'll get each other back to normal before that happens, I know it," Winter said gently after stepping up closer to them. He was still hiding his horror well.

"Of course!" Edwina added. "I said I will, so I will." It was her turn to fall silent for a trice. "…Al…I…I…I dug up the Human Transmutation result while I was in Rizenbul."

"_What?!_" Alphonsa screamed, throwing up her arms. "It wasn't enough that you had to watch her die twice, but you had to disturb her final resting place?! Why the _hell_ wou—"

"It wasn't mum."

Both the younger alchemist and mechanic slumped down onto the bed in shock. The younger Elric grabbed her head, her mind rushing, her thoughts jumbled. "…But, then! Wait! I gave! We lost! Idiots…" she wished she could take a steadying breath. "You did that alone?"

"You can scold me later," Edwina replied. "I just have a question for you…do you remember when…uh…when we…when we fought about who would marry Winter? I-I do now."

Winter smiled to himself for a moment as he did. It was so adorable, having his best friends fight over him. It took his mind to a better place.

"Yes, but we already talked about this," Alphonsa replied. "And I think it's kind of rude with Winter right here."

"Actually, I need Winter to help with this." She looked at the girl and boy in turn, fiddling with her hands. "Al said you rejected her, and later confessed you said you would me too. Why?"

The boy looked down shamefully, while he and Alphonsa quote in unison. "'You're both too much to handle romantically. I love you, as my closest friends and as family. Not to mention for being so determined and strong, but, as overused as this is, I don't want to ruin our friendship.'"

"_What?!_" Edwina spat at the mechanic. "So you want some prissy, submissive little housewife?!"

"Mrs. Cutris is a housewife and she—" Once again, she was ignored.

"What are you talking about?! I just want to be a nice girl whom I see as more than family." Winter struggled to keep his voice calm in the face of his friend's.

"This is nineteen-fourteen! What's the matter with you?! You sexist! You patriarch! You demon!"

"I'm sorry, but that's just the way I feel." _And you don't see me complaining about you shaming me for crying…_ he angrily muttered inside his head. "What does this have to do with anything, anyway?"

"I was confirming Al's memory," the Fullmetal Alchemist replied, her voice still harsh, but fading into a grumble. "Is there anything else?"

"Oh, you remember the conversation we had when she was sleeping?" Winter asked the younger teenager.

"Which one?" for some reason, she laughed, even as she remembered the sadder ones. "We had lots of conversations when Nee-san was asleep." They looked back at the Fullmetal Alchemist teasingly. "Don't worry; they were only about you every now and then." Al added, feeling a sly mental smirk. "They were mostly about you _and _me, and our future."

The girl's fury faded completely, being replaced with mixed feelings of betrayal and violation. "Please…I don't want to hear anything else…" she shook her head. "Basically, now that I know – _this_ – that you have memories before you were ten, I can also confirm that the soul in this body really is you. But, how do you remember things after? Obviously there's no brain to store them."

"I've asked that too, and I think it's my blood seal."

"But that's only for fixing your soul to the armour. How can i—" the amber-blonde's eyes widened. "Unless, your body is still alive, and the brain still working!"

Meteorically Alphonsa's eyes widened as well and she stood up. "Barry the Chopper's body was still alive. Of course!" in her mind she smiled with hope.

"…Wait, Barry the Chopper? What did he—"

"That could mean your arm and leg are alive too!" the armour girl added, her tone lifting.

"Yeah…the Truth did have my arm and leg on its body when it took them. My guess it's something to do with the alchemical 'mind' 'body' and 'soul'."

"Barry said that the body and soul are attracted to one another…and that's because they're connected to the mind!"

"Right." She supposed she would find out what Barry had wanted later. "That day I thought you were 'taken' without really thinking what it meant. But it just meant that you didn't actually die, you were literally taken, your body stolen and your soul, not being able to move on, just…stayed there. Then I used my right arm as a fee to get it back…and with mum really dead, there was nothing we could pull from the gate at first." The older alchemist once again found herself staring at her metal hand.

"When I reached out for this figure, while being pulled through the gate, I couldn't even touch her, even with what I gave up…but something did grab me – it was my was my own hand!" her tone fell again. "After I lost my body, everything went dark and then I-I was watching you, through the eyes of that thing we made."

"Oh…" Edwina felt more guilt in her stomach and she moved her eyes away from her hand to look down at the floor. "It's lucky your soul didn't get put in there permanently…"

"Now that I think about it – I was probably rejected." Alphonsa's eyes were dark again.

The older teenager took her turn to sink onto the sofa. "…we transmuted and caused suffering to some stranger, and I dragged you into it. Then I added insult to injury by making you into a time bomb by placing you in that body."

Alphonsa and Winter stood and moved closer to her. As the boy opened his mouth to reply a knock sounded at the door.

Feeling somewhat thankful for the distraction, Edwina walked over to it and answered.

"There's a phone call from Mrs. Izumi Cutris for you, Miss Elric," the receptionist told her.

"Right." She glanced back at the other to say, "Wait here" before going downstairs.

"Before you ask, I got the number from Pinako Rockbell," Izumi said, before the girl could continue after greeting her. Sid stood beside her, listening in. "I've done some research about my and my husband's lineage and well…when I tried to transmute our child, I use his bones, my blood and my husband's hair…" she took a breath, "but the result had skin and hair colour that was impossible coming from us. My perfect theory was a failure too."

"I'm sorry you found out this way," Edwina replied. "I hope I didn't anger you."

"No, it's my fault for being so stupid," the woman's voice was an uncharacteristically gentle and kind tone. "And I did it when I should have been much more mature than you. I guess we both learned the dead can never be brought back. We just create monsters instead."

"Yeah, but I do have some good news."

"Go on."

"Al's body, and possibly my arm and leg, is still alive."

Izumi felt her lips spread into a smile. "Really?! That's great. Now you just need a way to get back to Truth, maybe give it a good beating, and get them back. Good luck."

"What about you? If this really is true, then maybe, we could help you get your or—"

"No," the woman's tone returned to its stern usual. "The things I lost are a reminder of the mistake I made, and what keeps me from trying anything else. You two are young, you deserve to live a normal life, but again, I should have known better." She paused again. "But Ed,"

"Y-yes?" Edwina felt nervous.

"Thanks." There sounded clicking of her placing down the phone.

"…What for?" the girl wondered as she too put down the receiver.

"What did Mrs. Cutris say?"

Edwina jumped and spun around to see Alphonsa half way down the stairs. "I told you to wait upstairs!" She walked up and past her, not wanting the innocent receptionist to hear. "I explained what we knew and she…confirmed that the child she transmuted was not her own either. And then she said 'thanks'."

"…What for?"

"I don't know," they came to the turn in the steps before Alphonsa broke her pause. "Nee-san, I've been blaming myself since that day. If only I had been strong enough to say no, to get you to stop…" Edwina stopped and turned armour. The armour girl remembered seeing the being she had though was her mother, the being she had been, laying there in a puddle of its own blood, before noticing Edwina, clutched in her arms, had fallen unconscious. She covered her face with he hands in sheer relief. "But I'm just so glad we didn't kill mum! I'm so glad we didn't have to watch her die twice."

"Me too…" Edwina walked forwards and the two embraced, standing in silence.

At her home, Izumi was standing as well, teardrops silently rolling down her cheeks.

"Izumi?" her husband asked after a trice of silence, placing a hand on her shoulders, also crying in relief, but while he was not one to hide his sorrow, it was rare that his wife shed even one tear.

"I feel like a burden his been lifted from my shoulders," the woman said, moving her hand to the lower left side of her chest. "I didn't kill him. I didn't see his poor, silent form twice." She remembered inching forward on her knees and elbow, leaving a trail of blood from the wound she clutched while the other stretched out its own desperately. She ignored her husband, who screamed her name in horror as he came upon the sight after being woken by her own cries. "I won't be forgiven for what I've done, but at least – at least I have this. I still dream about that night every now and then. The pain of failure, of loss…that small hand drowning in blood…" She remembered running out of energy just as her hand reached the child's. She had not fallen unconscious, but just too exhausted from blood loss to continue. Sid had ran over to her, calling her name in a terrified voice. "I was made unable to ever have children again. Those sisters sought the comfort of a family, and the Truth took everything from Al into its lonely place, and took the leg Ed stood on with her family. The Truth might be cruel, but it is really is right." She moved over to the kitchen to start preparing dinner. "However, I think they can beat it."

"This is something that will never be forgiven," Alphonsa was saying,

"Until I get your body back, I won't—"

"Nee-san," Alphonsa said sternly. "_Once again_, I committed the same as you. Stop holding all the blame. When Hughes died, I thought that, if innocent people were going to be the expense, I wouldn't mind never getting my body back." Edwina opened her mouth again but the younger girl went on. "I protected the First Lieutenant, and I could have protected those others I saw die because of what I am and what they were. Those chimera were treated like monsters for something out with their control. But the people around me still treat me like a person regardless of my appearance." As the two now stood at the top of the stairs, they did not notice Winter at the wall behind them, worriedly listening in again. "Even with the ticking bomb that this body is, my life is no more in danger than anyone else's, so I could live a fairly normal life with it. But…" she flicked her gaze to the sky-dotted sky out of the nearby and large window. "I don't want to alone at night anymore! Of all the things I miss, I just want to be able to sleep!" they did not notice Ling and Lan Fan listening too, from their spot under the stairs.

"I just want to see you smile," Alphonsa finally allowed the older alchemist to speak again, the blonde's tone was somewhat sheepish.

"But, I don't want to involve anyone else," Alphonsa continued after inclining her head in acknowledgement, smiling inwardly for a moment. "Enough people know already, don't you think? So, by protecting those around me, be it physically or emotionally, I'll go down the path where I get my body back without the loss of anyone else."

Edwina found herself giving a laugh. "I was thinking the same!" her eyes narrowed in that resolute manner and they resumed walking along the corridor to their room. "Let's go kick the Truth's arse and drag your body out of it!"

"Don't drag it! You'll hurt it!" Alphonsa replied, but with a giggle. "And I'll get your arm and leg reattached once I'm restored. It's only fair."

"Deal," Edwina replied. "So, what the hell did Barry the Chopper want with you?"

"Ah, ah, ah, I've explained enough. You tell me what happened with dad."

"Oh…" the blonde clenched her teeth for a moment. "Well he…"

Behind them, Winter walked slowly, his hands guiltily behind his back. Suddenly, he stopped, gazing at older girl. "…Was her back always that big before?"

* * *

"We were one step too late," Mustang responded. She was sitting in one of the small waiting areas, having been allowed to take a walk. "…A guy who can change his appearance…"

"Damn…" Breda hissed. "I used up all my sick days for nothing!"

"It's a deadlock, but we…" her voice faded out as saw a military officer passed by, his arm around a grief-stricken woman who walked with her head bowed. While there were other soldiers in the hospital as always, the woman headed back to her room, the First and Second Lieutenants following.

"That was my mother and the retirement officer," Havoc said before his superior could even open her mouth.

"We told you you're—"

"The story is that I was stabbed by a prisoner when trying to seize the person attacking the detention centre."

Breda spoke this time. "Again with this? What the hell are you going to do if you retire?"

"My family runs a village shop in the east. I could answer the phones and stuff."

"If you'd let me try I'm sure I can find some alchemical way to heal you," Mustang said.

"There are officers who have only one arm who can still work, so why not you?" Hawkeye added.

The man's hands balled around pieces of his blanket. "Will you all just stop it!" He glared at them all. "A pawn that can't move is useless."

"I won't accept it," the Flame Alchemist's voice lowered its commanding but also angry tone, her arms folding. "I _order_ you to find a way to be useful, because I'm sure there are plenty."

"Like what? I've never seen a person in a wheelchair working anywhere else but behind a desk."

The woman gritted her teeth. "Stop with this negativity!"

"_You_ stop it, _Ma'am._" Havoc looked right at her, right into her eyes, and the Colonel fell silent. The man reached out, taking one of her arms and pulled her face down to his. "Just throw me out! _You have no idea what this is like!_ You want to know?! I HAVE TO GET HELP TO EVEN SIT UP! I HAVE TO PISS INTO A BAG THAT NEEDS CHANGING LIKE A NAPPY BECAUSE I CAN'T CONTROL MY BLADDER!"

"Havoc!" Hawkeye and Breda yelled in unison, moving on either side of the bed to try to pull him off their leader to no avail.

"Instead of hanging around pitying me you should be out keeping your promise to your best friend!" He released her arm, leaving behind reddened imprints, his voice lowering to a growl. "Just leave me be. Just let me go." His voice became soft and he heaved for a moment. "Please."

"…Fine," Mustang eventually said. "I'll leave you here, so you can catch up at your own pace." She turned away and walked towards the door. "I'll be waiting at the top. Good luck."

"Second Lieutenant," Hawkeye spoke up, as he and the other officer settled him back into the bed. "You know that I gave up on living itself, and the Colonel wanted me to watch her back, so what made you think she would give up on you?"

"She's just so stupid sometimes," Havoc replied, wiping sweat from his brow. "Even in the face of such grave injuries she still wants and expects us to get up and follow her. How can she keep raising when she knows how cold the higher ups are?"

"That's why we need a leader like her," the blonde man replied with a smile.

Walking out to find the older officer, the blonde found her leaning against a wall, holding her side and grimacing while ignoring the concerned scan of a nurse as he passed by with his young patient.

"Do I need to say again not to get stressed?" the man asked.

"Get my uniform," she told him bluntly after catching her breath, knowing he would protest.

"But you're still not in any condition to—"

"_Get it._"

Fighting the urge to shake his head, Hawkeye replied, "Yes, Ma'am."

Armstrong was also back on duty. As he walked down the corridor to his office he couldn't help but jump upon hearing a door open and Brosh's voice say, ""Is your holiday over already, Sir? How are you feeling?"

The man turned around to face his subordinate, remembering both Ross's most recent words and some of her first ("You're a bad liar, Sir, it shows on your face") and he fought to desire proclaim her innocence and liveliness at the top of his lungs. Instead, he found himself grasping the man's shoulders and saying, somewhat joyfully, "I'm feeling much better. The place was filled with such nice people."

_I wish I did…_ Brosh said to himself after the moment of confusion at the other man's action. "Oh yeah, this is good timing." He reached into his jacket pull out a piece of paper, which he rolled and handed to the Major. "This just came from the Führer himself."

Armstrong opened and read. "An order for both citizens and State Alchemists?"

"Really?"

"Tell Colonel Mustang and Edwina Elric immediately!"

"Yes, Sir!"

As the Sergeant ran off Armstrong crumpled the paper in his fist as he looked down, the heavy weight of guilt still on his shoulders.

Suddenly, the Führer's voice boomed from the loudspeakers. "Citizens of Central. The hunter of State Alchemists has appeared in your city. He has already taken three victims, along with the child of one State Alchemist." Several mothers and fathers grasped their babies and toddlers while others rushed off to collect their children from school and teenagers tried to swat way their parent's pleas. "He is an Ishvalan, with an x-shaped scar on his forehead and a tattoo covering his entire right arm." "Typical savages," snapped a police officer as she helped clear away the rubble from the latest murder. After repeating the statement twice more, the Führer turned off the speakers and not looking at the men lining the long table, quietly said. "So you wish to die painfully, Scar…"

* * *

**Author's Note:**** Again, I must say that I have not put enough originality into this. And people are starting to complain, so I really have to step it up.**

**In other news, I've gotten some critique for my prologue and am re-writing some of it. I'm thinking of uploading it to FictionPress**

**Another short one today, friends.**

**Thank you ^_^.**


	41. Chapter 41

**Chapter 41**

_**An Unsavoury Reunion**_

"Who's this?" Down the quiet and dirty alleyway, Scar pointed at the boy who had bow stood up and bowed to him upon seeing him, before sitting back down again.

"Uh, welcome back master!" Yoki said, with a nervous smile as he wrung his hands. "It's been a week! I was worried."

"Who's this?" the Ishvalan repeated.

"I am Mao Chang," the boy said with a much more genuine smile while Xiao-Mei sniffed around the newcomer's feet. "Your master saved my life, and in return for his kindness, I've been sitting aimlessly here."

Scar had shot a look at Yoki upon hearing the first part of the sentence, the former Military officer responding by looking away while whistling.

"There is no need for thanks," the former priest went on. "Just leave quickly. There are enough homeless children here."

For a moment, the boy was surprized by the rather cold reply, but then, "Is that Rentanjutsu?" His eyes trailed up and down the tattoo. "To understand the flow of power, and to use that power to heal and help. That is the Jutsu of my country."

"…You're from Xing, right?" Scar asked, walking to the end of the alleyway to sit down.

"Yes." Mao smiled again as he knelt back down again. Xiao-Mei, with her inspection finished, clambered back onto his shoulder.

"My brother found documents from Xingese visitors and became interested in alchemy. This tattoo," he extended his arm for the child to see more clearly. "Is the result of that research."

"Where is your brother now? Perhaps he could help me."

Scar looked down. "A State Alchemist killed him."

* * *

"What if it's decomposing?" Alphonsa suddenly asked. Edwina stopped speaking to Winter, the two of them turning to look at the armour girl. "Being in the Truth's world, it won't have absorbed any nutrients. It might not have even slept! It could turn out like Barry's! Disgusting and animalistic!"

Even though neither knew Barry's appearance, the blonde girl and boy imagined something of the goriest horrors along with the amour girl. Leaping up, the mechanic run into Alphonsa's arms and the two clung to each other.

"Ed, would should we do?!"

The other teenager remained calm. "That's only a theory. My theory is that, because we used our blood, and because both of us were sent to the Gate, that it is possible our spirits, well, mixed." Her sister and friend just stared. "No matter how many years pass, even though I get more muscles and toning, my body is still rather…rather…rather…underdeveloped."

_She admitted it… _Alphonsa mentally gasped.

_She…does that mean no more rants?_ Winter also gasped. "So…that mean's Al's growth is carried along by yours? Then again, she eventually became taller than you…"

"Don't remind me!" the older alchemist snapped.

"You don't drink milk! How many times do I need to say this?!"

_Nee-san does sleep a lot…_ the younger Elric ignored them again. "Is she sleeping my share too?" for some reason, she laughed. "That's good." She looked back over at the duo. "Nee-san," she said loudly. "My body grows at the same rate."

The duo fall quiet, the girl thinking. "So, that means…you'll be the same size as me! When you get your body back, I can develop more! I won't be a kid anymore!" Edwina punched the air.

The younger teenager shook her head. "If you want to develop more, you need to eat more and drink milk."

"Enough about milk!" She moved the few steps over to Alphonsa, looking her over with sly eyes. "You know, a quick temper is a sign of mineral deficiencies."

Winter suddenly realised the weakness in his body. "I guess…I can finally relax now?"

The female duo looked over to him. "Uh…yeah."

"Ok." He turned towards the door. "I'll start packing for Rush Valley. I'll see you in the morning."

"Ok." Again, Edwina felt that niggling feeling that appeared when she was sure someone was lying or concealing.

As soon as he was in his room, with both doors closed, he sagged against his own.

"'_I won't be a kid anymore'?_ He shuffled over to the bed to sit down before taking down Doctor Barbara from the shelf and  
holding her to his chest. _Right…_

"But how do we get to the Gate again?" Alphonsa asked, the two of them sitting opposite one another, Edwina having grabbed the chair from the dinner table. "I guess we'll need another fee…" she saw her sister look over her flesh arm and leg. "No!" she stood up, slamming her hands on the coffee table making the blonde jump. "How many times do I need to tell you - we're doing this together."

"But you said, after I got your body back, you could—"

"To-ge-ther." She sat down again, folding her arms. "The only way I can see us getting there is with the Philosopher's Stone…but we know how that works…"

"A human sacrifice…" the Fullmetal Alchemist muttered. "If I were to die it would be troublesome for them."

"Are you talking about the homunculus?" Alphonsa asked worried. "W-What do they need you for?"

"The female one said that a human sacrifice is needed to open the gate again. I',, guessing if an alchemist can access the other side and come back alive then they become a human vessel, due to the power directed across." The blonde rubbed her chin again. "I just a feeling what they're planning is going to hurt more than just us…"

"I think we need to figure out what they are exactly and who commands them. Maybe it's related to the Military's research? There's no way something like this could escape the Führer's notice."

"Then why did the Führer send men to kill Greed and his gang?"

"Because of Greed's betrayal?" Alphonsa jumped as Edwina slammed her fists down on the coffee table before clutching her head. "If I had known this earlier I would have accepted Greed's deal!"

"That's over and done with. And I bet he would betray us as well once we had what we wanted. Either that or the Fṻhrer would have killed us." Inside her mind, her eyes widened. "Wait, The Führer actually shares a lot of traits with the Homunculi. Super strength and speed, for example."

A moment of silence followed. The two then shook their heads.

"We're overthinking this," Edwina said in both a mocking and scolding tone, her hands up dismissively.

"Yeah, it's _too_ logical!" Alphonsa did the exact same.

Another silent trice followed, after which Edwina stood and walked over to her bed to pick up her coat. "We need to speak to the homunculi. I need to use my privileges every now and then."

Catching onto the plan, Alphonsa followed the older alchemist as she proceeded towards and out the door, making sure to lock it this time. The two tiptoed past Winter's room. Once at Central Headquarters. Alphonsa waited outside. It was a good while before Edwina returned.

"So?" the armour girl asked eagerly.

Edwina drew out and opened a map.

"An underground entrance?" Alphonsa thought aloud upon seeing the coloured corridor. "Are they playing us?"

"No, it's right…I just think it's been covered up. What little marks there were suggested the researchers have performed Human Transmutations."

"You don't think they—"

"Edwina!" called a breathless voice.

The two down the street in suprize as Brosh took a moment to catch his breath after stopping. "I finally found you." He stated obviously. "You need to return to the hotel. It's not safe out here. Major Armstrong and I will protect you."

"Any less safe than usual?" Edwina rhetorically asked. "And I thought I said I didn't need protection…" her voice became low and threatening.

The Sergeant sighed. "Scar's alive!"

"What?!" the sisters cried together.

"Go back to the hotel room or we _will _stand guard."

"Fine…"

At the place, they tiptoed past their friend's room again.

"Scar murdered Winter's parents?!" Alphonsa explained upon realising the sentence Edwina could not finish.

"I'm not completely certain," the blonde replied, moving her hands in a 'lower your voice' motion. "We'll ask the man himself."

"Nee-san, you can't tell Winter about this!"

"Of course not," Edwina made the motion again before folding her arms. "I don't want to make him cry."

"But what…what if it's true?" Alphonsa went on.

"Then we'll beat him to a pile of blood and bones."

"But Winter's good at knowing when we're hiding something."

"Then we'll make something up."

"He's learned when we're lying too."

"Then we'll just try harder." Edwina looked at the floor. "Yet another thing to confirm…however, with this I think we can kill two birds with the one stone." Alphonsa felt both worried and curious. "Since the homunculi seem to value me so much, if I'm attacked by Scar, they'll come out."

"But isn't that chance very low?"

"Well…it's better than nothing!" the Fullmetal Alchemist snapped back.

"But he easily beat us last time." Alphonsa was leaning closer with each question and statement.

"Um…I think we're stronger than before." Edwina felt nerves beginning to creep in and she subconsciously stepped back.

"And what if a homunculus does appear?"

"I-I'll have a plan – probably – I always do."

"And what if—"

"_We could help with that!_"

Alphonsa yelped, while Edwina jumped, before turning around, seeing the Xingese duo perched on the windowsill, and yelling, "How long have you been out there?!"

"Since you kicked us out of the room." Ling climbed back into the room while Lan Fan remained balanced. "We hid under the stairs too. We can help you fight. Four against one, powerful-sounding person is better than two. Double the punch-power!"

"What are you scheming?" Edwina asked, leaning in close to read the fellow young woman's face.

"What? It's natural to want to help friends out!" the blonde's eyes narrowed more. "Ok, ok. I want to find out the secret of the homunculi, but I'm still doing it out of friendship." The dark-haired woman folded her arms. "You two lure them out by fighting that man, and then we'll follow their scent, capture one and then help you two defeat the man." Edwina opened her mouth again. "We fought them before. We know their moves."

"Co-operation, huh?" The alchemist folded her arms as well. "That's good, but how to we know you're not going to run off with the homunculus?"

"I promise we won't run away!" in unison, the Emperor's daughter and her bodyguard made a stranger gesture with their hands before bowing. "We own you a meal, anyway."

"I think it's a little more than one meal," Alphonsa dangled the bill for the three to see. Edwina's jaw dropped and she snatched the recite to look closer, hoping she had read it wrong. "_This is not one meal!_"

"Technically it is."

The doors flew open. "_Will you all shut up?!"_ Winter, his hair dishevelled, stormed into the room. Everyone fell silent at his expression. "It's not enough that we've lost a dear friend recently, so I'm not even allowed to sleep?! I have to go early tomorrow!"

_Oh yeah… _the Fullmetal Alchemist thought, both remembering that and her last encounter with Scar. "Uh…wait, Winter." She stepped forward cautiously. "Well…you see…u-um…Al and I are going to have to fight another big battle soon and well, my arm might get wretched again…"

"Another one?!" the boy cried before his voice became soft and concerned again. "Can't you just take a break for a bit? Please? I heard that announcement from the Führer."

For another rare time, Edwina saw the genuine worry. "Sorry, but we just have some questions, and the only way we can get the answers is through fighting."

"Besides, you have other people who need you now," Alphonsa added.

"I'll stay here a bit longer," the boy said with an exasperated sigh after a quiet moment.

* * *

"What have you done?!" the shop owner yelled at the other man as he stepped out of his car to look at the damage to both it and the smashed wall of the restaurant. "This is a family business!"

"I'm so sorry!" the driver cried, bowing to the man. "I'll pay for the damages."

"That's all well and good, but it won't fix it." The chef sighed. "I'll just have to shut down for today."

"In a bit of trouble, gentlemen?"

The two men turned around to see a young woman standing a few feet away, her hands on her hips and her chin held high. "State Alchemist Edwina Elric, at your service!"

The men watched as Edwina examined the wreckage. "This looks like a simple job." Clapping her hands, she placed them on the broken wood and brick. Having never seen alchemy performed, the two men watched in awe as the rubble seemed to dance within lightning, resetting themselves into the wall piece by piece. "That should do the trick!"

"That's incredible!" the restaurant owner cried. "Thank you so much!"

Edwina turned to the other citizen's car. "I'll get out those dents for you too." The car was straightened out in moments.

"Thank you, you dear girl," the man bowed to her. "What will be the payment?"

"None necessary!"

"My, how noble."

"You're welcome!" the blonde told them both before heading off again. The stress and fear of Scar lurking around seemed to have caused more accidents than usual. It was not long before Edwina passed by another job. A man and woman stood near the entrance of a funeral home, the man sobbing over a pile of smashed clay, while his wife tried to comfort him.

"I'm so sorry!" the man was saying in-between sobs while the woman patted his shoulder.

"Look we can just buy another one in the home, it'll still be—"

"What is the problem here?" Edwina asked the couple, standing with arms folded. "As a State Alchemist, it is my duty to help."

"Well," the rather suspicious and surprised woman began. "We were going to collect my father's ashes, and my husband was carrying this urn and well, he tripped."

The man just continued to cry.

"Behold!" Edwina exclaimed. The woman tapped her oblivious husband on the shoulder when the urn stood up, looking like it just come out of the kiln.

"I knew alchemy was amazing but…I didn't know it could repair broken things!" The husband exclaimed in joy while the wife just smiled and bowed.

"It's just like any other alchemical process, the materials being right there. Should you need me again, just call. It's Edwina Elric!"

She headed off again. After repairing a man's walking stick, the cracking load bearing pole of a house, and replaced the rolled-away wheel of a pram, she had a small crowd around her, cheering her name. Even the homeless in their dingy alleyways and ignored streets became to speak of this amazing alchemist.

"I told you guys State Alchemists aren't all bad," a man told his fellows as they sit in a circle. "She doesn't even ask for payment."

"Those bastard Dogs of the Milltary take our taxes for research, don't give anything back and people like us end up out on the street and you want to praise them?!" a woman snapped.

"But, she bought me this…" from within his cloak, a man pulled out a linen-wrapped box and opened it. In it were various chucks of meat and vegetables in a spicy sauce. "There's enough for all of us!"

Upon trying the meal, the untrusting woman declared, "Praise Edwina Elric!"

"Maybe we could ask her to transmute some gold," another man commented with a mouthful.

At the very end of the same alley, Mao was lost in fantasies of the beautiful woman coming to his rescue while thugs, unfazed by his Rentanjutsu and ignoring the embedded throwing knives as they advanced. Yoki just scowled as he remembered the loss of his mines and his job.

"Look, Miss!" Selima yelled from her living room as she watched the commotion from her window. "The tiny alchemist, Edwina Elric, is parading the streets! Can I—"

"No!" the woman replied curtly. "Now pay attention! Your mother has ordered me to keep close watch over your studies. Now, six times eight is what?"

"Heh heh, looks like I'm the talk of half the city," Edwina said with a grin as she leaned back in her restaurant chair.

"It'll lure Scar out _and_ raise the State Alchemist reputation," Alphonsa replied. "Now we just wait."

A car pulled up right next to them, causing them to jump.

"Stop messing around, Fullmetal," the Flame Alchemist ordered.

Edwina's face instantly changed to a scowl. Leaning her head through the back window she snapped, "I heard about Second Lieutenant Ross from Major, Colonel Bitch. He came to tell me at the hotel."

"I knew he couldn't keep it completely to himself," The Colonel replied with a shake of her head. "But at least he didn't tell Brosh…"

Edwina's face fell. "…I also heard about Havoc. I take it wasn't a simple stabbing during a fight with a prisoner?"

"No."

"You know, if you could visit Dr. Marcoh, I'm sure he—"

"Get in the car. Let's exchange information."

Again, Alphonsa almost filled the backseat, squashing Mustang against one side.

"Or maybe we could find somewhere quiet?" Edwina asked from the front seat.

Hawkeye drove them to another alleyway, unused due to a sewage plant, but no one cared about the smell.

"Dr. Marcoh, and his Philosopher's Stone, disappeared a while ago," Mustang explained, showing the teenagers her book. "I'm guessing those homunculi got to him."

"Damn it," Edwina hissed. "When Dr Marcoh was in the military, he did'research on the Philosopher's Stone. He said it was 'used in Ishval'."

"We think the Führer himself might be involved," Alphonsa stated. Both the older officers blinked in disbelief. "I mean, the Philosopher's Stone, homunculi, the Military's secret research, Ishval…there _has_ to be a connection."

"Where were the scientists doing behind our backs…?" the Colonel mused, her arms folded. "Oh, and, Fullmetal, if you don't stop drawing unnecessary attention to yourself, Scar will find you."

"I'm doing all this to attract his attention," Edwina replied with a grin. "I need a rematch."

"Why are you so foolish? Remember East City?"

"Oh I do. Remember how you got defeated because of a bit of rain? At least I put up a fight."

"The weather's fine today," the woman replied simply. "He destroyed your automail."

"Again, I still fought!"

"You just can't admit when someone bested you, can you? Remember that little battle we had a few years ago?"

"You cheated! You took low blows!"

"Both of you, look!" Hawkeye suddenly yelled. The older and younger soldier looked where the blonde man was pointing his gun and Alphonsa was looking. Scar walking down the long but thin cold-de-sac.

"Well, it seems you have your wish," Mustang returned to seriousness, though still gave a taunting smirk. "I'll let you go first."

Please, don't, Lieutenant!" Alphonsa grabbed the man's steading arm. "We don't you and the Colonel in this again!"

"We can't just stand here and—"

Everyone except Edwina dodged to the left as a row of spiked raged towards them, ripping through the car instead.

"Why the hell did you want to fish him out?!" The dark-haired woman demanded to know as Alphonsa shielded the officers while Edwina continued to dodge and attacked.

"We need him to lure a homunculus out," Alphonsa replied frantically. "The homunculus need Nee-san alive for some reason, so she used herself as bait. We don't want anyone else getting hurt or killed because of us." She pushed the soldiers in the direction of the street.

"The Lieutenant and I are perfectly capable of—"

"We're doing the fighting on our own," Alphonsa's voice became low and growling.

"…What happens if a homunculus does appear? How will you catch it? And what if the soldiers and police manage to take down Scar before one appears?"

"That first bit, we have covered, that second bit, well, you can take care of that, can't you?"

The Flame Alchemist smirked upon realisation. "So_ you're_ using _me_? That takes guts." Alphonsa moved to stand beside her sister. "If you get a homunculus, leave something for me!"

The teenagers nodded, before clapping their hands in unison and sending forth gnashing faces and fists from the ground.

Now out on the street, Mustang looked up at the roof of a nearby building. "Oh, so they're our guests…" While Hawkeye went to acquire a civilian car, she called up. "Get ready! It's started!"

"Yes!" came the reply.

Ling and Ran Fan watched from their perch as the dark-haired officer stepped into a car and several police officers, having also heard the call, followed the sound of commotion.

"Any time now, Lan Fan…" Ling said with an eager grin spread on her features.

In the alleyway, Edwina back flipped out of the way as, for a moment, Scar forwent alchemy to give out a punch and two kicks. Using the distraction, Alphonsa moved as much to the side as she could and sent out another fist, which caught the man in stomach, causing him to stumble back, winded.

"Move aside!" one of the policeman shouted.

"No, you might hit my Nee-san!" Alphonsa held up her hand.

"That's why we're telling you to move! Both of you!"

Alphonsa again used herself as a shield, spreading out her arms to do so.

_This won't be in vain!_ Edwina yelled to herself as she leapt away from her recovered opponent's own stone fist. _But I can't get too close or go too far away… s_he yelled and sidestepped, the Ishvalan's reaching hand just brushing past her ear. She turned and ran. "Hey arsehole, this way!" Alphonsa followed behind the man as he pursued the blonde.

"There it is!" Mustang tapped the hastily written number in the box. "All thanks to Fuery." Pulling down the notepad, she switched on the headphone microphone, covered her nose, took on a deeper voice and yelled. "This is the captain of the third district squad! We are engaging Scar in battle! Requesting backup! I repeat, requesting back up!" The First Lieutenant raised his gun and fired several shots upwards, piercing the roof of the flat next to Falman's own. "Aargh! I'm down! I'm down!" she switched off the microphone before chuckling. "This is kind of fun."

Hawkeye rolled his eyes.

"Scar's in the seventh district? What about the third?" Colonel Douglas was simply, utterly confused.

"Sir, another officer has reported Scar in the seventh district!" a man yelled over the dim.

"He's fighting two other people!" another threw out.

Reverting to her normal voice, the Colonel cried. "This is Central HQ! One of those people fighting Scar is a State Alchemist! Do not open fire!"

In his car, the Führer was as calm and cool as ever as he stepped out into an alleyway in the third district.

As he walked past it, Gluttony poked out his head. "He's been here! He's been here! The slippery Ishvalan meal has been here!" He was drooling heavily.

On the rooftop, Ling and Lan Fan jolted. "It's here!" they cried together as they sprang down.

In another district, Edwina rolled across the floor due to the heavy blow, though luckily it caused the alchemy to miss.

"Damn it," she hissed in pain, and blinking blood from the graze on side of her forehead as she stumbled to her feet, immediately having to jump back again to avoid another physical swipe. _Wait…_

"Nee-san!" Alphonsa yelled, throwing up a wall to block another blow heading towards the loss-in-thought girl. Scar disintegrated it.

As Scar reached out towards her again, the Fullmetal Alchemist chapped her hands, held onto her automail and clapped it against the man's one. A burst of equalised energy throw both of them back, Edwina landing on her chin and stomach and Scar landing on his back.

"What the hell?" Scar hissed.

Edwina smirked. "What's the matter? Realising you're not as powerful as you think?" she said after looking at the cracks in her artificial limb through the shreds of the sleeve. Alphonsa moved up behind the man with her fists raised and ready as he stood. At the same time, through the ribbons of cloth that was his jacket, they saw the man's tattoos again.

_I-It's true….?_ Was all either could think.

The Ishvalan sent out another blast before him, sidestepping the younger girl's attack.

The Xingese warriors again jumped in opposite directions, causing the homunculus to fall onto its back again on the building on which they had been crouched.

"Your smell makes you so easy to track," Ling declared, one foot placed on the pipe in front of her and her sword on her shoulder.

"They're can't be just one of you," Lan Fan continued from his perch on a chimney, trying to sound authoritative. "How many of you are here?" Even though they could not detect any more, both were sure the now-forlorn plump man was not alone.

"They know about these things?" the Führer thought aloud but quiet as he passed by on his patrol following his 'brother'. "They chased Envy with that power as well…fascinating..." After drawing it and another blade, Bradley placed the sheath he had been carrying back into its holster.

Hearing the man's movements, the royal figures and Gluttony looked down at him. Gluttony smiled.

"Sir, please leave." Lan Fan said politely. "This does not concern you."

Even their sharp eyes could only see a blur as the man hurtled up the side of one building, straight towards Ling. The retainer screamed "_Young Mistress!_" and moved to defend her, but his lucky mistress barely escaped, the blades slicing deep into her arms. With two more swings somehow missing, the somewhat impressed Führer turned to the bodyguard instead.

"Run, Lan Fan!" the would-be-princess shouted.

The boy's legs were frozen. Why could he not move? He had only seconds. He had to check if his boss was ok, he had to shield her from any more blows once he escaped as well. Tears formed as he screamed in agony. His mask fell from the pushing force as the swords carved yet deeper into his right arm and chest before being drawn out. It was almost a relief. The world tilted and an enraged scream filled his ears before blackness blocked out everything.

* * *

**Author's Note:**** I'm happy again that I'm going to be writing about a dude-in-distress (Lan Fan), instead of the usual damsel-in-distress that Arakawa is so fond of.**

**Writing the bit where about Edwina running around to get noticed put a smile on my face. However, I _really_ enjoyed writing that last paragraph. I love writing that way, for some reason. I hope it was not too cheesy. **

**I also put more originality this time (I think). I try to make the battles more original as well as the story itself. Speaking of which, I've edited chapter 37, as I had that spark of an idea to make it more interesting. If you want to backtrack, ok, if not, ok.**

**As always, thank you ^_^.**


	42. Chapter 42

**Chapter 42**

_**Serpent's Cross**_

The horse veered to one side again, letting out another whinny. "What is _wrong_ with you today?" the carriage driver asked. "Are you thirsty or hungry? Spooked by something?"

"You have a nice family," commented the woman sat in the carriage by the golden-haired man. "I can tell you're away from them a lot. Soldiers have been found to just look at family photos for hours."

Hohenheim had lost track of how long he had been staring at the picture. "Well, I'm not a soldier, but I was away from a long time." He felt somewhat jealous at the fact that the woman sat with her husband and quiet, well-behaved children in a row. "I reunited with my older daughter recently. She's grown up with tough eyes. She just won't understand that I had to be away from a very important reason, and I truly do wish I could have stayed."

"I'm guessing you had a fight about it?"

"Yes, indeed we did. Now I don't have a reason to return home…"

"Of course you do!" chipped in the father. "My sister's a solider and has a son. He's nineteen now, and he always wondered why mummy was never home. He said he saw the loneliness in his father's eyes. Still thought a real mother stayed at home, you see. But eventually, as bitter as he was, they sat down in his thirteenth birthday and talked. Now he knows his mother's is putting her life on the line fighting for them _because_ she loves them. He knows she's fighting for the whole country. Just like him, your daughter will understand, some day."

"I do hope so. I know we'll meet again. We're both alchemists, you see."

"Alchemists?!" the girl sitting next to the woman perked up.

As Hohenheim made to speak again, a gunshot rang out. The driver yelled and everyone on the right tumbled to the floor as the carriage swerved sharply to the right, the horse giving a terrified neigh as it speed forward. The gun-wielder moved his own horse beside the carriage and his partner, who had been behind their target just in case, drew up on the other side of the fleeing animal. After drawing a large knife from inside her long coat, she slashed the reins before trotting alongside the wagon until it came to a stop. As the vehicle rolled along, the driver just managed to pull out and blast his flare gun before he was grabbed by first bandit, and flung to the dusty ground. The other man then dragged him into a sitting position, searching his pockets as with one hand while aiming his weapon at his head.

His partner replaced her blade, pointed her gun though the covering sheets at the tangled mass of people and demanded, "Everyone! Up and out! Single file, wit' your hands up!". The terrified civilians did as instructed. As the last person stepped out, she continued, "Line up, facing me."

"Don't do anything to the children," reminded her friend. "And be quick. You saw the flare."

"I know!" she snapped back. Her partner turned to the carriage and began rummaging through the luggage with his free hand. She began rifling through the people's pockets, taking jewellery right off fingers, wrists and necks.

"You don't have to live this way, you know," Hohenheim spoke up, his voice gentle. "I know this world is tough, but you and your friend could help make it better instead of making it worse."

The woman released the man she was picking through and walked over to the bespectacled speaker.

"Shut up," she growled while training her weapon on his chest.

"Well, at very least, please don't kill anyone."

"Ah said shut up!"

"You can just—"

The male bandit shook his head as three shots pierced the air. Then he paused in surprize. There was no accompanying thud of a dead or dying body. He turn his head to see the blonde man still standing, his partner staring with wide eyes, her gun still raised. "Don't you dare move," he told the driver warningly before he strode over to his companion. The civilians remained quiet.

"How dare you!" Hohenheim was crying out while looking down at the holes in his shirt and coat. "I asked you nicely!"

"How the hell are you still alive?!" demanded the woman. "You wearing an iron plate or som'in?!"

"I'll blow his head off!" the male thief declared. A much louder shot sounded. The blow threw Hohenheim's head back. As he stumbled back, he pulled it rather painfully back down before reaching up and pulling out the half-buried shell and, after a few seconds, alchemic lightning healed the wound. He was thankful his glasses were still intact as well.

"W-What are you?" the male thief stammered, his hands beginning to shake.

"Shite, Ah think he's one o' those…homunculus things!" the female replied, not so much scared as impressed.

"T-They're just stories!" the man retorted.

"Ah saw things when I wiz in prison, Bill. They're real!"

Not noticing the rumbling of approaching hooves, the man turned and fled. "Fuck this! I'm not dying for some jewellery and clothes!"

The woman shook her head. "Now look what you've done, you stupid basturt," she barked at the Elrics' father. "Ah mean, Ah'm no scared of you things, but now Ah'm going to have to calm him down. And only get this poxy pearls and silver!"

Putting away her gun and taking out her knife again just in any police followed, she raced after her friend after grabbing their horses.

Only a few minutes later did two horseback police officers arrive.

"What happened here?" the first officer asked as he slid off his horse and crouched beside the driver.

"We were attacked by bandits," the man replied. "They took some jewellery, but that's it."

The officer looked at the group of people, who were gathered around a blonde passenger, looking concerned, shocked or even fearful. "Are they ok?"

"Yes, I think so. The bandits went that way," he pointed. "They are a man and a woman. The woman has several broken teeth, a bandage over her nose and short, messy black hair and the man has long brown hair, and one of his blue eyes is milky, like he's half-blind. They spouted some nonsense and then ran off. The man looked terrified."

Hohenheim was looking down at himself again, oblivious to the group's stares. Worried, he reached into his coat and drew out the photo. He sighed with relief.

"W-What are you?" the mother who had first spoken to him was now the only one able to do so.

"I'm as that woman said," the man replied coolly. "A monster." He looked at the woman. "You won't tell anyone, will you?" He turned to give the whole group a sharp look.

"N-no, of course not," again, the woman was the only one to speak.

The man smiled. "Thank you."

* * *

"Can I eat him now?" Gluttony asked, as the two homunculi and Ling, now frozen in place, looked down at the broken Xingese boy. He lay sprawled on his back on the ground, his left arm and leg at inhuman angles.

"Finish quickly. We have more to do," his eyes flicked to the black-haired young woman.

Giving a cry of joy, Gluttony leapt down, arms outstretched and tongue lolloping out. There was a flash of steel and the top half of his head, right through his rounded nose and ears, came spiralling off, leaving a trail of blood flowing from both halves as they fell.

"Lan Fan!" the would-be princess cried as she landed on the ground next to him. At the lack of response, she dropped her sword to gently, delicately, pull the boy's head onto her lap before clasping one of his hands. He was so limp, so still. "Lan Fan, remember what you promised your grandfather! You can't do your job if you're unconscious!" There was not even a twitch. With some strength unknown, she pulled the boy up as she stood; drawing him into her arms like a groom would his bride. She glanced down the alleyway where they were. "One-hundred and nine steps." Upon hearing movement behind her, she immediately but still careful draped the guard over her left shoulder before picking up her sword again as she pivoted around.

"You think you can escape me so easily?" Bradley asked coldly, one foot slashing into the mixing human and homunculus blood.

"Well, of course not," Ling gave a fake smile. "No harm in trying though." Ready for the creature's speed, Ling blocked his crossed sabres before taking a slash of her own. It missed. She had to keep her right side facing him. After a few more _pings_ of steel upon steel, Bradley leapt to the right as the girl swung again. She barely had time to react, but felt the blade only slice her cheek as she moved to the right. Once there was a good distance between them, she stopped to catch her breath.

"You're quite the swordswoman," Bradley commented genuinely. Not listening, the young woman's eyes moved down the street again. "I never thought anyone could match my skill." The girl turned and ran, hoping to weave away through the backstreets. "Always aiming towards my weakness, my blind spot. It seems I need help. Gluttony!"

The Xingese warrior stifled a yelp as she came to an abrupt halt as Gluttony landed in front of her, his head still repairing. She bounded back from the doughy fist that swung at her; but before she had even landed, the plump being grabbed her by the ankle. The world lurched and she felt her grip on both Lan Ran and her dao slipping. She barely managed to hang onto him as she was thrown upwards and back, crashing through a low window of the building they had perched on. Her grasp slipped completely as she landed hard on her back, the impact taking all the air from her lungs. The boy rolled to a stop on his side.

As the girl said up gasping, she heard the thump and crash of the creatures jumping through the window and landing in front of her. Still out of breath, she ignored them and crawled over to the prone boy, and turned back to her opponents, arms outstretched.

"Before I finish you both off, I would just like to know a bit more about you," Bradley bore a tone that sounded like they were friends, chatting about trivial things. "No need to go into your life story, though, just three things - who are you? What are your motives? And how do you know of the homunculus?"

The young woman was looking at the door leading to the stairwell. _Just forty steps._

"You are still thinking of escape? How foolish. I would make it quick and almost painless if only you would stay and talk. However, if you really must try, then leave your load behind and you might have a chance."

Ling's eyes opened in slits. "Did you just call my friend a 'load'?! Would _you_ leave behind an injured comrade?"

"Yes." Wrath did not even hesitate. Gluttony looked up at him, shocked. "If you want to survive, you cannot afford others to slow you down. A real warrior would not hesitate to do such a thing."

"A _real warrior_ does everything to make sure all they care for are safe," the young woman growled back. "Especially a ruler." She searched Lan Fan's pockets as she spoke. "_You will never be a true king, King Bradley!_" Finding what she was looking for, she pulled the pin from and rolled a cylindrical object over to her opponents. The plump homunculus cried out and the solemn homunculus grunted as the blinding light stung their eyes and caused him to stagger.

"You depend too much on your eyes, Bradley!" Ling yelled back as she turned towards the door after having picked up her friend. As the two creatures tried to get their bearings, she turned towards the door, unaffected via her closed eyes. She took a moment to get her own bearings. She detected the wind from stairwell. _There. _She was gone in less than a minute, trying not to stumble on the steps.

It was a few moments before Bradley stood up again. Gluttony continued to whine while his eyes watered.

"So this does have a use," the Führer muttered to himself as he removed his eye patch, his other eye still closed. The ouroboros symbol expanded slightly as he focused. "I still have this." He looked at the opening to the stairwell. "Such a naïve girl." He walked out, not waiting for his 'brother' to recover. He would catch up or be left behind.

* * *

To tale his mind off worrying about his friends, Winter had visited Gracia's again. They had been standing before her husband's grave for a while now, having both placed bouquets at it. Elicia was still unnaturally quiet.

"At least you didn't lose Hughes in the way I did my parents," Winter finally found something to say. "The last I saw of them was their backs becoming smaller and smaller as they walked down the path towards the train station. Sure, like most parents, they comforted me, but it's the walking away I remember most. It made me cry. They went to Ishval and never came back, like so many."

_Winter's mother handed him a teddy bear, dressed a traditional doctor's uniform._

"_Whenever you're missing us, just hug her as tight as you can and we'll know, and we'll channel our love back to you."_

_As Sara stood up after kissing the boy, Urey crutched down to ruffle his hair before also pressing a kiss to his forehead. "Be a good boy and maybe granny might start training you with automail. We'll bring you something back."_

"_We love you," the two said in unison one more time before turned around, holding each other's hand to hide their nerves as they walked._

_Winter's lip quivered and he pushed his face into the teddy bear. Pinako wrapped an arm around him as they stood until they could see the couple no more._

"Then Trisha died soon afterwards. I knew then life would never be the same. My parents, Granny, me, Ed, Al, and Trisha, we all used to hang out and play together almost every day. It just became the three of us, with Pinako just being the stern but loving surrogate. But, after all the horror that followed, I found you three. I was a stranger to you all, and you took me in and treated me like family. Then this happened." Gracia just felt confused. "But as they say, if bad things didn't happen we can't appreciate the good. I can never get the good times of the past back, but I still have you two, Granny, Ed and Al. We're all family."

Elicia, not quite understanding what her big brother was saying, still felt heartened by it and reached out to take his hand, beaming even more as her smile caused to the boy to as well. The toddler looked up at her mother, and made her smile as well.

Gracia looked around at the other people standing by graves, noting that most were alone. "I hope you'll come to visit my husband more often. He'll start missing us if you don't." Winter sensed she was not talking about Hughes.

Hand in hand, the trio proceeded back to the city. As they walked through the streets, they could not help but notice how they were much busier than usual with everyone moving quickly.

Passing by a few stationary and gathered people, the woman and boy caught the words. "…ighting him. It's a good thing, considering."

"You mean, that State Alchemist who helped us? Now _that's _brave! I didn't know she had a sister." remarked a woman with her son clinging to her leg. "I hope he doesn't know what she is."

Seeing the look on her friend's face as they passed, Gracia said, "I take it you have to go."

"Yes," the boy said.

"Aw…" Elicia whined, only gripping the blonde's hand tighter as he made to walk away, almost pulling herself into the air. Winter crouched to her level. "Big brother has to do something important," he told her gently with a hand on her shoulder. The girl shook her head causing her little pigtails to swish around. "It's not only adults who have big things to do. Your big thing right now is to let me go and go home like a good girl."

The little brunette took a moment to think. "Ok…" she let go.

Giving the two a polite bow, the mechanic excused his way into over to the first speaker, a nurse.

"Excuse me, sir, but did I hear right? The Elric sisters are fighting someone? If so, could you tell me where?"

"Yes, I was," the man replied. "They were last seen in the fourth district."

"Thank you!" the boy turned around and sped off, ignoring the cry of "Wait! Don't go there!"

"So, this is that big fight they mentioned…" he muttered to himself. As fear seeped in again, his mind flashed back to his parent's backs, which morphed into those of his friends. _Go away! It's not like that!_

In another backstreet in that district, Edwina had no other option but to clamber up a drain to get away from the solid wall of spikes the Ishvalan had send out to her. Alphonsa tackled the man to the ground, gaining more dents and scratches, but he squirmed out not a moment after, before turned and grabbing on of the cold armour legs to throw the younger Elric to the floor.

"Nee-san!" was all the youngest alchemist could do as Scar alchemically disconnected the pipe from the wall just as the blonde was reaching the top. She jumped. She missed. She swore she saw her opponent smirk for a second as she fell towards him, towards the hard ground. She closed her eyes. A blow from the left stuck her and she thought she was done for as the hard thing clamped around her body. As she struggled she heard her sister yell again. She now had Scar in a head lock, raised him so he could not touch the ground, while she had her own free hand upon it. Following the stone, Edwina realised the hand that had caught her belonged to her sister.

"Thanks, Al!"

Scar broke free again, and again seeming to forget his powers, made a grab for her leg. Alphonsa moved the hand up again, depositing the older teenager on top of the roof. She could only watch as Scar turned around and started charging towards the armour girl.

"Not that easy, I'm afraid!" Alphonsa laughed in a manner akin to Barry. Placing her hands at her feet, she raised a platform. Partnered with a well-timed jump, the combined forces launched her towards the roof. She slipped for a moment after landing, but just managed to hold steady.

"It's amazing, how light this armour is," she commented, giving a much gentler chuckle.

Inside the building, the terrified residents could only imagine what was happening. They yelled as and ran to one side as the other crumbled. They saw a flash of red and gunmetal grey as two figures fell.

For a moment, Scar looked down at the sisters. He noticed two police officers, having just arrived on the scene, half-buried in the rubble.

"Nee-san, come on!" Alphonsa cried, immediately freeing herself before pulling the blonde up as well. For a moment she was limp, then sprang out of the younger alchemist's arms with a cry of "You bastard!" Alphonsa was suprized nothing was broken.

They retook on their combat stances as Edwina continued, "I thought you only hurt state alchemists! I thought Ishvalans had some policy that no innocents are to be harmed!"

"If you would just accept your judgement, Fullmetal Alchemist, then none of this would have happened."

"Shut up!" Alphonsa shouted. _What aren't the homunculus here yet?_ _And where's Ling? I bet she ran off. _ She looked past the killer to Edwina, and saw her barely controlled panting and slightly shaky stance. "Scar! Why do you denounce all alchemists as scum yet use it yourself?"

The man turned his head back. "As long as there are ungodly creators like you, there will be destroyers. I thought I made that clear in East City."

"East City…" the girl's leather hands clenched. "You're just using your God's name to justify killing! You don't get anything out of destroying! You killed Nina Tucker, a _child! _I thought the Ishval rebellion was meant to prevent things like that!"

"So you saw that poor girl had been turned into a chimera? I was doing the kind thing. Her own father created that monstrosity using her." He clenched his fists as well. "You admire something which creates such horror? An alchemist I killed a few months ago thought the same. 'You can't stop us! We are the creators!' And he wasn't even a member of the state."

A shudder ran through Edwina. Tucker's words, his bloodied face, both seeped into her mind. "There was no need to kill her!" she cried, rushing at the man with her metal fist raised. Before it could connect with his face, Scar spun around, grabbed her by that arm and threw her down to the ground. The girl staggered to her feet, subconsciously stepping back. Alphonsa, alchemical energy crackling between her hands, decided to let the man continue talking, and released it into the air. Both wondered why he had not just killed her.

"You really are a fool," the killer commented as he watched the Fullmetal Alchemist. "That girl could no longer return to her original form. If she were left to live, she would be in constant physical and mental pain, and used in experiments, never to be treated as a human again. You and your sister have suffered from this 'art of creation' as well."

Both teenagers lowered their fists slightly.

_That's right…we thought the same… _Alphonsa thought, guilt and horror filling her.

_We just hoped the military would see the tragedy of it and give Nina somewhere nice to live, away from her father…we just walked away…_ Edwina shuddered again.

As the young mechanic rushed through the streets, he could not his worry became changing to terror as he saw the destruction. He saw a strip of red fabric caught on a spike. He saw the half-crushed house looming up and hoped the residents were ok. He ignore more cries for him to stop, from hunting police to civilians safe in their homes. He ignored his pleading lungs, legs and mind.

"Like everything, there are bad alchemists and those who make mistakes." Alphonsa explained, raising her fists again. "But that doesn't justify what you are doing. If you kill all State Alchemists, it should be obvious that you are killing good ones as well."

"I have a few more questions," Edwina spoke up again, her voice much lower. "Do you remember a couple called Rockbell, Amestrian doctors in the Ishval War?"

"Yes."

"Did you know that they devoted their lives to helping everyone, regards of what side they were on?"

Alphonsa turned her head at the sound of new footfalls, and her eyes widened at the site of her friend.

"No. But it did not matter. They were Ames—"

"THEY SAVED YOUR LIFE, YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Edwina roared.

For a moment, the man's composer wavered. A certain scene of his life played out – his brother, screaming out to him as he threw himself in front of him as the explosions consumed them all. Then Edwina saw Winter.

"…What?" the mechanic said, taking a few steps forward, his voice devoid of any emotion. Edwina suddenly felt a weight crushing on her heart, her whole body frozen place. "This man killed my parents?" He looked at him. "You killed two people who saved your life?" the boy paused, waiting. "Why are not denying it?" A thud sounded as the boy's knees gave way and he collapsed onto them, his arms limp at his sides. The tears began running down but his voice reminded unchanged. "What did they do? Did they try something that gave you no choice?" His limp hands clenched into his fists as he screamed, "_Give them back! _GIVE MY MUM AND DAD BACK!"

The sisters were still as statues. Then Winter began to move. On his hands and knees, he crawled over to a piece of rubble and pulled out a black object.

"Winter, no! That won't work!" Alphonsa cried as the boy's fingered curled around the butt of the pistol.

"Winter, stop!" Edwina cried, a hitch on her voice.

Another memory played in Scar's head, as the boy, tears now silently pouring from his eyes and still on his knees, turned back to face him. His shaky hands pointed the gun at his chest. In the thick of the war, he and his master had sat in the holily decorated tent. His master had told him, "I understand what it is, the desire for revenge, and as good as it might feel, it only begets more revenge."

* * *

**Author's Note:**** Forgive me for the attempt at an accent, dear readers. I hope it isn't that bad. I wanted to get some practice and try to show that not everyone in Amestris speaks the same.**

**And sorry about the really cliché conversation between Winter and Gracia. The original one in the manga, honestly made little sense. Plus, I wanted some way to justify Elicia's sudden joyfulness.**

**Again the fact that I can't really put my own details in 's editor annoys me, as it really ruins the way I write flashbacks.**

**You know how, back in chapter 35, I mentioned why I like Gender Flip and gender bender? Well, I'm going to explain it now.**

**I hate the Winry-meets-her-parent's-killer-Scene in the original manga, as I feel it is very typical and sexist with the original genders (along with Hawkeye's break down and subsequent 'protection' by Alphonse). I much prefer the 2003 Anime scene (and the 2003 series in general. for the story overall and the greater number of female characters/female characters in bigger roles). I actually have a rant of the parts of the FMA manga I feel are sexist on my Deviantart profile (it is also has good praise, though) which is part of the reason I am writing this fanfiction, to show it would work well with these genders). Some of you already know this, but for those who did not – please do not hate or flame me. I felt I had to say this at some point. I know I am going to lose a good few readers because of this. **

**The main reason still remains - I love gender-bending and role-swapping so much, and I am enjoying writing it.**

**Anyway, despite this, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and can still be a fan, dear readers.**

**Thank you.**


	43. Chapter 43

**Chapter 43**

_**The Boy in the Grip of Battles Past**_

"How can you still see?" Ling asked. In the tight backstreet, the homunculi blocked her on either side.

"Because of this," Bradley said, pointing at his left eye.

The young woman took a step back as she saw the distinctive tattoo. _Another homunculus? I'm such an idiot._ Placing down Lan Fan again, she ignored the Führer's remark of "Finally deciding to leave the baggage behind? We'll take care of him" as she quickly found three more needed items. As her opponents launched at them once more, she grabbed the boy again while holding the items in her other arm, pulled out the pins with her teeth and threw them all at once. A flash of light blinded the creatures again, smoke further confused them and an explosion ripped through the bottom half of a building as the young woman ran up one side and on top. As she jumped down on the other side, she yelled, "I'm so sorry!" to the shocked and terrified workers. She prayed none had died.

In the crater created by the explosion, Bradley hissed upon attempting to sit up, one arm and leg pinned in the rubble. His 'brother' was less lucky, the only thing visible being one arm.

"Three types of grenade in one attack? This girl is out of her mind…" Taking a breath, he opened his left eye. Everything was blurry. Ignoring it for the time being, he used his free arm to toss aside the pieces of brick and concrete from the other two limbs. He gasped as he sit up, the limbs and several ribs repairing. In a few minutes, he could stand again. Everything was still blurry.

"I really am getting old," Wrath muttered to himself as he took a few moments to waft away as much of the smoke as he could. He located and picked up his remaining sabre, still unsteady. "I might be able to chase them with my eye…" it was beginning to focus again, displaying a wavy, fuzzy image of the Xingese duo in the main street. "But my body can't keep up…"

He walked over to gluttony's prison and pulled away enough pieces to reveal him. After waiting for him to regenerate, and seeing his eyes still closed, he asked, "You cannot see again?"

"No! It hurts!" the younger being whined.

"This is not a time for complaining," Wrath told him as he stepped up onto the rubble to head across, dragged the plump man with him. "You can track them by smell, remember."

Gluttony's nose twitched. "Yes! Yes I can!"

"Follow them from the East," Bradley said. "But did not go onto the main street. Corner them in the first dead end you see."

"Yes, sir!" the plump man bounded off.

"His eye still had not recovered. "I suppose I'll take of our other nuisance…"

Winter still knelt upon the ground, his mind a tangle of horror, sorrow and anger. Several minutes had passed since he had picked up the gun, and he could not hear his friends' pleas any more. All he knew was the drops from his eyes, the cold metal in his hands and the man in front of him.

"As the son of those people, you have every right to shoot me," Scar told the boy in a quiet tone, who was motionless apart from the continued quaking. "However, you must know this - the minute you release a bullet, you will be my enemy."

"You even _touch_ him and I'll—" Edwina roared, taking a few steps closer to the man, her hands in fists.

"'Kill you'? How fitting!" Scar turned his head to her. "It seems the cycle of hatred will never stop until both sides are destroyed!" The young mechanic heard those words. "But don't forget that the first to pull the trigger in the Civil War was Amestris!"

Winter lowered the gun slightly.

"Winter, please drop that damn thing and run!" Alphonsa cried having also moved forward.

He raised the gun again as the man turned back to him. "Boy, if you will not shoot, than leave. You are in my way!" the Ishvalan trust his hand onto the ground, sending out a wave of raised earth. He did not intend to harm him, just to chase him away. He had not reason to hate him yet, even while knowing whom he chose as friends. Winter's hands tightened, oh so slowly, on the trigger.

Letting out a cry, Edwina rushed in front of the boy, spreading out her arms before sending up a wall to block the surge. They crashed together and crumpled to rubble and dust. She sheltered Winter. Scar rushed at the blonde again, but as he reached her, right as he was about to place the killing blow, he stopped. The girl was still crouched in front of her friend, one arm holding his body against her and the other hand holding his wrist, keeping the gun lowered, her teeth clenched and her eyes narrowed, a caring glare within them. That scene replayed - his brother's cry as he threw himself in front of him, encircling him in his arms as he threw them both to the ground, shielding him. But his brother was not a monster. Her eyes kept him frozen. They were no longer full of hate or anger, but of a raw, almost animalistic desire to protect. And perhaps the tiniest bit of horror. A leather-and-metal fist collided with the side of his head, knocking him aside. He skidded across the ground, just barely managing to stay on his feet before straightening up again.

"You're _dead!_" the younger Elric screamed as she ran at him, the man barely having time to stand before the girl drove her fist into his stomach. Coughing and gasping, he stumbled back against the reminder of one building wall, and caused it to shot towards the armour girl, binding her arms to her sides, catching her leg and pulling her over. He turned and ran down the street, still winded, a new idea developing. Alphonsa broke free a few moments later. She looked from her sister, who now faced Winter, to the brick-and-concrete flecked main street. She did not want to leave. But she could not let that man escape. Burning anger and hatred coursed through her mind like none other she had felt. No one how tried to do what that man just did had any goodness inside them. He would be her first kill, no matter what her sister would say.

She walked over and crouched beside Edwina, silent and still, one hand extended to grasp the boy's shoulder. She would do something good first.

"I couldn't shoot…" Winter said, his voice a whisper and wavering. "Even though I knew what he did, what he was trying to do..." he shuddered and gave a sob, his crying increasing in flow as his arms went limb, the gun falling with a clatter. "Why…? Why?!"

"Why? You don't remember all the things you've done?" Edwina asked, taking both of his cold, shaking hands into hers. "You gave me an arm and a leg to stand on. You delivered a baby thanks to having a good memory of your parent's texts. You saved that child and the mother's life, as good as any professional." She raised his hands and applied them to her face. "It's because your hands are not made for killing," Neither of the sisters noticed yet more officers arrive on the scene. "Your hands are made for saving lives. They are made for caring and soothing."

Horror gripped the boy and he broke. Letting out a forlorn, keening wail, he buried his head into Edwina's chest, sobbing loud and unbridled, his shoulders heaving, and his whole body shaking once more. Edwina wrapped her arms around his body, while Alphonsa ran her hand up and down his back.

While two picked up their still-alive comrade, the other three officers approached the trio, their expressions grim.

Silently, Alphonsa picked up the gun and held it to the policewoman, who took it and placed it in her jacket. The sisters remained sat there for as long as they could, the woman remaining by them while the other two guarded the street. She awaited orders and to inform the Fullmetal Alchemist of the situation.

"Officer," Edwina said politely after about ten minutes. "Could you take my friend somewhat safe?"

"Of course, Ma'am," the woman said gently.

"Winter…" Edwina began, her voice now hardly more than a whisper. "Al and I still have more to do right now," she placed her hands on his shoulders, and half-extended her arms so she could look him in the eyes. "When we get back, I'll explain everything. I promise." The woman crouched down to place her hand on his shoulder.

"As a friend of the Fullmetal Alchemist, I will guard him with my life," vowed the officer. "Good luck."

"Thank you."

Alphonsa remained a few seconds more, to squeeze his other shoulder, the buried anger bubbling up again. Then Edwina remembered. Going back to the mechanic, she crouched back down to him drape him in her ragged coat and applied a kiss to his forehead before the two of them climbed over the rubble.

"…Why is it that…?" Winter asked himself, pulling the other blonde's coat tightly around himself like a child with a blanket before raising one hand to touch where her lips had met his skin. "…all I can do is wait."

* * *

"Base eight, we have found a civilian who has been placed under our protection by the Fullmetal Alchemist. He encountered Scar. The killer made another explosion and it killed one of our men. We are entrusting the civilian to you, as he is the Fullmetal Alchemist's friend." One of the police officers said to a higher up soldier.

"Shit. How can we lose so many to _one_ man? And have you been able to question the civilian?" the solider asked.

"It's no good. We can't get even a word out of him. We ain't going to force anything. Oh yeah, do we have permission to fire yet? Scar's been spotted on the main street."

"No."

"Damn it!"

Mustang pulled aside one of the headphone earpieces, frowning again.

"They're near St. Louis Avenue," she said, looking to Hawkeye. "Go back them up."

"Right, Ma'am," shuffling around on his knees, the man opened a wardrobe nearby and selected a rifle.

The house second from the end is empty, use that if necessary," the woman went on. "If something happens, I'll follow."

He spun back around, gun in his arms and his eyes narrow. "Don't you even—"

"I. Will. Come."

The lieutenant fought the desire to shake his head. "Yes, Ma'am." The dark-haired Colonel replaced the headphone on her ear.

As Hawkeye picked up a trench coat, a spare pair of Fuery's glasses fell out from one pocket. "Maybe…" he popped out the lenses and placed them back in the pocket before walking out the door. Once it was closed, he allowed his head to shake._ Sometimes I wish I could rank up…_

In the main street, Ling looked up as upon hearing a distant thud, and upon seeing the plump homunculus, growled in annoyance. Her energy was beginning to wane. "They are so stubborn…" she found herself coming to halt to look around at the buildings. "These poor people…" she started again – only to meet a high brick wall after a few minutes.

"Shit…" the would-be-princess hissed.

"That's what happens when you try to escape in an unfamiliar place."

She turned on her heel to see Wrath a few feet away. He made to speak again, but was interrupted by Gluttony landing next to him.

"I thought I told you to look for Scar now," he stated sternly.

"I want the girl, first," his 'brother' replied, his blank white eyes fixed on the Emperor's daughter.

"I'm taking care of them. The Ishvalan will sate you."

The younger creature slumped onto his bottom, trying to look pitiful. "But I like girls…they're so soft and juicy…"

"Go find Scar!"

Giving a whine, Gluttony headed off upon the buildings once more. The Führer turned his gaze back to the girl – only for a blur of black and yellow to rush by him, before he could even draw his blade. He sighed. "She is a stubborn one."

As the girl weaved back in the alleys, she felt a twitch on her shoulder.

"…Young Mistress?" said a weak, hoarse voice, but to Ling it was the most wonderful sound in the world. He took a few minutes to get his bearings. He did not know where he was, but did realize his mistress was carrying him. He felt touched but annoyed. Under any other circumstance, he would blush, but he was too tired and too grateful. Instead, he felt a smile fight through the pain, weakness and blurriness.

"You're finally awake!" the dark-haired teenager cried in happiness. "Your arm and leg are badly hurt. I'm taking you to get some medical attention."

"But…" the boy paused as a wave of pain washed over him. "I…can't felt my left arm…"

"It's just bloodloss," Ling said, her voice now soft. "Don't struggle. Just rest. Go to sleep if you want."

"If you were to fall because of me…there would be no heir to the throne," He placed his hand on the young woman's warm back to push himself up slightly, before searching through his clothes, feeling impressed upon figuring why all but one of his grenades were missing.

"You know me, Lan Fan, I'm good at surviving. Besides, what would Fu say if you just let go? 'You stupid boy! Such an easy death is a dishonour to our clan!'"

The boy sighed. "If a king – or, in this case, queen – loses her people, she is not a queen anymore, but if the people lose their queen, then they are lost. Your life is more important than mine."

"Again with this?!" the would-be-princess shrieked. "A true ruler treats their servants as they would their equals!"

"In that case…this I do for you, my Empress," he found the spare kunai, and after some fiddling, had it pointed at himself. He bit down on his collar, and scrunching his face. He spotted a dog, and added onto his plan.

"Lan Fan, don't be so stupid." It was more of a plea than an order, which the boy found even harder to ignore, but managed to do so. "It'll get better! You can't do your job with - just _STOP!_"

A muffled cry followed the horrible squelching of a blade digging deep into flesh.

* * *

"Nope!" Alphonsa cried as she run alongside the serial killer as he tried to disappear in the train station crowds. The people threw themselves out of the way.

"Your body is empty, is it not?" Scar suddenly said, spying an oil tank near the end of the train station and making his way over to it. He almost felt pity now. He now just wanted to leave them.

"Yes!" Alphonsa again propelled herself into the air and landed in front of him as he traversed the wooden beams around it.

"How stupid! Due to alchemy you live a miserable existence yeah you still believe in it?!"

He jumped away a second too late as Alphonsa alchemized a tube in the oil tank, and the slick, slippery substance coated his bottom half. He slid on the ground, again fighting for balance. Alphonsa looked at him for a moment of amusement before jumping down, once more in front of him. The train station was near empty now. Taking off his new jacket, Scar began trying to wipe the substance from his shoes and trousers.

"There are many things I miss because of this body," the light that was Alphonsa's eyes were now slits, and she raised her fists again. "But that doesn't mean I'm miserable! There's nothing to pity, least of all from you! Yes, my sister made me this way though alchemy, but if I were to deny that, I'd deny her and alchemy itself. I believe in good possibilities of alchemy. I—"

Scar placed his hand on the steam engine beside them and flooded the area in front and behind them.

"Damn!" Alphonsa cried, moving around in a circle to swing punches, hoping to hit something. She saw an arm emerge right in of her, and raised her arms to block, not realising her mistake. The arm suddenly stopped and was pulled back. Alchemy crackled and the smoke was pushed aside to reveal Edwina in front of her sister, her kicking leg still extended as she crouched along with the man.

"Just in time," Alphonsa said with a relieved laugh.

"You were talking too much," Edwina scolded as she straightened and took her place beside her. Scar remained crouched. "I thought you were fighting to defend me and Winter, not spilling secrets."

"Sorry," Alphonsa replied. "…I'm still worried about him…he saw you in such a state, you covered in blood and both of angry unlike ever before."

"He'll pick himself up. He's never given up on us, so I know he won't give up on himself." Edwina replied, her voice lowered for a moment as added, "But this time will be the last we make him cry."

The other girl inclined her head. Just as the teenagers and the man threw themselves at the man, who tried to dodge around, a cry froze them all in their tracks.

"I found yoooouuu!"

The combatants felt the ground shake as Gluttony landed just behind Scar.

"You again, you abomination?" Scar snarled as he turned around. He easily sidestepped out of the way, as the creature made a dive for him. Gluttony cried out as Scar placed his hands on his back and blow a hole from the inside to out. The creature turned around and grinned as he repaired. Scar gasped for air for a few moments as the plump man ignored the pain and raced backwards, using his weight to crush him against the brick wall of the ticket building.

Tired of waiting and hoping, Edwina pelted forwards. "That prissy princess, she talks such bullshit!" she cried. Part of her wanted to wait until Scar was dead. Alphonsa, on the other hand, did not what to do.

In the alleyways, the Führer was fighting a smile as he saw the blood trail was growing in volume. He had no energy to run. However, sometimes the old-fashioned way was best. He moved around a corner. They were there. He could feel it. His eyes widened both surprize and once again, impression. "Perhaps you are cleverer than I first thought."

The dog around the corner simply stopped in its tracks to look at him, paying no heed to the dismembered arm tied to its back.

Edwina stopped again as a white and black shape leaped from out of a nearby manhole. Yet again, everything stopped in suprize. Ling turned in the air, her firey eyes fixed on the homunculus as he and Scar struggled. She had discarded her yellow robe, revealing her surprisingly toned torso under sarashi. She tackled the black-clad being like a torpedo, bowling him over before wrenching open his jaws, held one open with one hand, and used the other to draw another small bomb from her trouser pocket before stuffing it in his mouth and leaping back. Everyone ran back and a good distance and had barely the time to throw themselves upon the ground before the man was torn in half by the flare of fire and metal. Even at their distance, the four people were sprayed with globs of blood. Edwina jumped as the creature's jaw landed near her and Alphonsa just stared down as half an arm landed between her and Ling. The sisters felt a pang of confusion as the limbs began to dissipate, not unlike that of a body being taken by the Gate. They looked over at what remained of Gluttony. His upper spine and ribcage were clearly visible, muscle and skin hanging off them like an unpeeled banana.

"I need metal wire!" Ling commanded.

"Right," Edwina said. The sisters used the metal from a lamppost, trying to enough to keep it standing. With their help in guiding it, the would-be-princess bound the rejuvenating homunculus in a net-like ball, before crouching on top of him like an animal with its prey.

"I think I've found a way around their regenerating," Ling explained. As Gluttony repaired, he gave a several hisses and whines as the metal dug deep into his flesh. He did not dare move.

"I'll have your partner next," The young woman snarled down at him, glancing at the open manhole.

In the sewers, Lan Fan stumbled again as another flare of pain stabbed though him, and he fell off the platform to land in the murky water. It shocked him awake, but he just could not go on. Even with Ling's robe bound around his lonesome shoulder, blood still steeped in a growing patch. He had to rest. It took a lot of strength to pull himself back onto the platform, where he slid down in a sitting position against the wall, and dripped and waited.

* * *

**Author's Note:**** Are you still with me, dear readers? If so, thank you. How good is it that I got this out on New Year's Day? I love it when I get things finished on 'even' days.**

**Again, I feel like I've not put in enough differences (sorry), and I feel I tend to go overboard with portraying emotions, to the point of melodrama, but I just love getting into character's heads and not going the easy way of dialogue. Wait, it's probably a good _and_ a bad thing. That reminds me – Aurora (do you mind my calling you that?), I hope I did this scene as much justice as you did.  
****My main strength, as some have observed, does lie in descriptions.**

**Ok, I'm going to stop rambling about myself now. A late Merry Christmas (no, I'm still not going the PC route, as well, I would not be offended, if say, I was wished a happy Honokaa) and Happy New Year (it was a new moon too).**

**I hoped you enjoyed my first chapter of the year and again, are still with me.**

**Thank you ^_^.**


	44. Chapter 44

**Chapter 44**

_**A Few More Promises**_

Scar did not know what to do. It was rare an alchemist did anything noble, and these two had essentially just saved his life. A bang sounded and a sharp pain shot through his upper left leg. He fell to one leg with a cry of pain, and looked down to see a bullet wound. "Crap…"

The Elrics jumped once more, as a car screeched to a halt only metres away. After the shock had faded, they looked at the driver as they yelled, "Get in!" Later they would fall embarrassed that it took them a few minutes to realise the man with messy blonde hair, some of covering one bespectacled eye, was Hawkeye.

"You, come with us too!" the Lieutenant ordered the dark-haired teenager.

She glimpsed at the manhole again but dragged the bound Gluttony over to the car, and, summoning all her strength, heaved him into the backseat with a grunt.

"Act like we don't know him," Alphonsa quickly said as she sensed what the older girl was about to say. Yet more police were on the scene, marvelling over Hawkeye's shot as they surrounded the Ishvalan, but not recognising him.

The two began heading towards the car, but then paused, looking at Scar, who was now fighting the police, unsteady due to the wound. Hawkeye cried out to them, but they ignored him as they walked over to Scar, still engaged with the new assailants, though, thanks to the highly increased bloodloss, no longer had the strength to do anything more than knock them unconscious.

"You killed many people, including those who saved your life!" the sisters reminded him in a united, authoritarian voice. "Now it's time you receive your punishment!"

They clapped their hands together. Something stuck Alphonsa in her side, and she toppled over with a crash. Edwina looked around to see a blue-clad boy perched on top of Alphonsa's keeled-over body. He seemed familiar somehow, but she had no time to think, and was too slow in blocking as the boy pounced at her, wedging his other foot under her chin, knocking her up then down onto the ground, causing her to slam her head hard.

"Are you ok, Scar-sama?" Mao asked as he readied himself in his combat stance – legs apart, hands straight, one out ahead of him and the other behind and bent - Xiao Mei mimicking as usual.

Scar was just beginning to feel ashamed. Not only had he now been saved by a child twice, but almost killed by teenage alchemists and a homunculus.

Mao was now pointing at the Elric sisters, who were sitting up. "How dare you attack the underling of my saviour! You boy-bodied and too-tall girls!"

"'Boy-bodied'?!" Edwina repeated in a high tone. "You're one to talk, midget boy!"

"So…that…kid is Scar's comrade?" one policeman stammered, his gun half-raised.

"We're not going to harm a child!" Their de facto leader took a step forward. "Boy, move out of the way!"

Mao turned around to see the soldiers were only on one side. "Trying to gang up on me?!" He spotted the oil tank. "Retreat, Scar-sama!" Dropping six throwing knives from his sleeves, he threw half into the tank and the other into a nearby coal cart, constructing the needed circle with his foot before drawing out the other needed five from inside the body of his jacket. Everyone yelled as pale blue lightning preceded oil, shrapnel, and coal-dust raining down upon them all. Somewhere through the confusion and slipping, several saw two figures moving away somewhat slowly, but even then could not follow.

Edwina wanted to scream.

Racing along, the first Lieutenant felt horrible about leaving the Elrics behind. The car served all over the road. He was never the best of drivers when it came to high speeds.

"I heard about you from Second Lieutenant Breda, Ling Yao," he said, trying to take his mind away from his guilt. "I'm taking you to a hideout. Perhaps you can assist my comrades again?"

"Wait!" the young woman cried, placing one hand on the man's shoulder. "I have a comrade too. Please, let me bring him too!"

"I don't have the time to wait any longer! I've already failed part of my orders!"

"Please! Please!" Ling begged, her voice cracking. "He's close to death, and he's waiting for me. I need dropped off at an entrance to the sewers, near the train station."

His mind wandered back to his breakdown when he though his dearest comrade was dead. He could not let another person go through that, even if it meant disobeying again. "I'll wait for you in the third street away."

Turning the vehicle around, he headed for a quiet alley containing a manhole. So fast were they travelling that he did not notice they had passed the Führer as he tried to locate the Xingese two. His finally re-focused Ultimate Eye saw them true and clear.

"One of Mustang's dogs…?" he said, somewhat uncertain. "Well done, young lady…but I'm just going to find your friend…" If Gluttony was going to die, then another him taking a life would be a nice balance, even if he could care less about him.

"We can't go out that way either, boss," Yoki said nervously as he arrived back at the alleyway where Mao was kneeling beside the man. "And you probably shouldn't move either."

"Yeah…" the Ishvalan looked down at his injured leg.

"You'd be luckier if the bullet had not gone right though," the boy commented as he placed his hand on the man's wound. "But don't worry. I help with that too."

"How?"

"By using Rentanjutsu."

Scar felt somewhat nervous as the boy pulled out yet more knives and placed them on the ground around his upper leg, before he drew a simple circle connecting them. Yet more pale lightning admitted from it, and Scared watched, almost transfixed, as it knitted and weaved the sides of his flesh together. Within moments, all that remained was the hole in his trouser leg and a patch of reddened skin.

"My goodness!" Yoki gasped in awe. "With you around, we don't need doctors!"

"It really wasn't that powerful…" Mao replied sheepishly. "I could only do it as it was a thin wound. Were it something big, the best I could would be to stop the bleeding." He settled back into a cross-legged position. "Just as energy flows through the circle of life, all living things have a flow of qi coursing through their body. Things without this flow cannot be cured. For example, you cannot regrow a lost limb. I'm curious though," he looked up at the Ishvalan. "Your tattoo is a combination of Rentanjutsu and Renkinjutsu. Why is that?"

Scar looked down at his right arm again. The Rockbell boy flashed in his mind's eye. Do I have eyes like his?

"Scar-sama?" Mao asked as he noticed the faraway look on his face, reaching up to place a hand on his shoulder. "Are you feeling unwell?"

"…I'm fine." He reached up to rub his head.

Yoki heard footsteps and a flash of dark blue. "The Military are getting back in our trial! Oh no!"

Scar lurched to his feet. "We have to go deeper, maybe even underground."

"Right." Mao nodded, still concerned. While the older males started running, he looked around him, "Xiao Mei, we're leaving!" the boy heard no pattering of paws. "Xiao Mei…?"

* * *

"…What is that?"

"I found it just before we got in the car," Alphonsa replied. Before they had, Edwina had made a quick stop at the (rather busy) hospital to be cleaned, bandaged and plasters applied before repairing Alphonsa. She had also changed clothes. She would remove the blood from the others later. "It looked lost."

Xiao Mei was feeling nervous rather than lost. The thing that had picked her up was so big.

"Again, I'll say it: we can't take care of a pet. Just drop it off at a shelter after this is done."

"But it's shaking."

"It's probably scared of your massive hands," the amber-eyed girl slowly extended a hand towards the little animal. She gave a squeal of pain as it bit down on her finger until it drew blood.

The black-clad officer driving them shook his head.

"Throw it out! Throw it out! Throw it out!" Edwina yelled, shaking her hand and spraying around small drops of blood.

"You scared it!" Alphonsa snapped, and reached out her own finger while speaking softly. The animal clamped her teeth down on hers as well. "Oh. It's ok, it's ok. I can't feel pain. Shh, calm down. Shhhh."

Xiao Mei felt confused. The bigger, vaguely human predator was not recoiling in pain. In her small mind, she had properties and likes. Her brother and herself was at the top, then food, then the dark human, then the flighty other human, now alongside the one with golden fur. But the grey being was going to take the place of her brother? She was now terrified.

"We're here," accounted the girls' driver a few minutes later.

They had stopped at one of the police stations. Alphonsa placed the black-and-white animal into her chest cavity. The constable led them through reception and up to the second floor.

The man directed them to a door near the far end, before leaving to give them some privacy.

The opened the door to find Winter sat at a table, his eyes puffy and red, clutching a cup of tea, the older Elric's coat on his lap. However, even though they were dreading what they had to do and still feel guilty, Edwina felt a flash of warmth from his small smile as he greeted them with, "Oh, you're alight."

They opened the door a little more, intending to sit opposite him – to find the Führer occupying it.

"Hello again, Fullmetal Alchemist," the man greeted, placing down his cup.

"…Why are you here, Sir?"

"I asked the solders about the chaos outside, they told me some were placed in charge of protecting a friend of yours. I decided to take over so they could continue with their other duties." He stood and gave the boy a small bow. "Well now, young man, since you young ones will want to talk, this old one shall leave. I hope I did my job well."

"Y-yes, you did. Thank you." Placing his teacup down, Winter also stood and bowed back.

As he passed Edwina, the Führer muttered to her out of the side of his mouth. "He's such a nice young man, even after all he has gone through. Take care of him."

Once they were sure he was gone, Edwina closed and locked the door before taking the empty seat while Alphonsa stood by, fiddling with her fingers. "What did you talk about?"

"I mentioned that we are childhood friends and how we played together…and eventually...that Scar killed my parents and that's how I encountered him."

"You what?!" Edwina yelped. She saw his expression falling again. "Oh, wait, wait! It's ok. Sorry. The Führer won't tell anyone, but I suppose he would find out eventually…"

"Can we…talk about what you know about my parents now?" the boy asked, his voice still soft, his eyes still sad.

The female blonde had to take a steadying breath and grasp her hands together before starting to speak. Almost an entire hour later, they were back in the escort van and heading back to the hotel. While he had listened in the room, he had one soldier bring his tools over to repair Edwina's arm, partly to keep himself busy and partly as repayment.

Winter still feel horrible, but new emotions were causing it to fade. I'm so relieved and proud. He thought to himself as he stared out of the window. They dedicated their lives to the people, right until the last moment…I'll always wish they had returned alive…but at least they went out nobly… He leaned one side of his face against the cool glass and closed his eyes. It's back to waiting again…it hurts so much…

"What perfect timing, Mr. Rockbell!" chirped the obvious male receptionist as the three of them entered the foyer. "There's a call for you."

"Is something wrong, sir?" Winter asked upon hearing the man's voice and the racket surrounding him.

"I'm sorry, my dear," Garfiel said in an exasperated voice. "I thought I could cope on my own but…your customers, they're so demanding." He had one finger jammed in his other ear just to hear the younger mechanic. Paninya sat upon a desk, watching the chaos in delight. The shop-owner was about to go on when Tetsu jumped up, grabbing the phone from his grasp. "Hey!"

"Mr. Winter, are you still at Central?" the boy asked.

"Yes, I'm afraid so," the blonde replied.

"Mr. Garfied is good, but you always get my legs perfect."

"Excuse me?!" Garfiel shrieked. "I've been doing it for two years!"

"And the way Mr. Jafaar looks at automail…it's so intrusive and rough."

"It's called dedication!" the Ishvalan cried at the boy. Responded with a scowl, he continued. "I guess, I just perfer someone a little more gentle."

"I'm perfectly gentle!" Garfiel cried.

"Yeah, but you talk too much," Tetsu replied.

"Hand it to me now, lad," the oldest of Winter's customers said as he held out a hand.

"Mr. Anders wants to talk," Tetsu told the older boy.

"Right." He replied.

"Winter, I really need you to finish constructing my leg soon. It's really beginning to hurt, using my walking stick all the time. You said you would give me something lighter too."

"Oh yeah, I should get a lighter one too," another, but younger man stated.

"Forget lighter! I need something stronger!" hollered Anya, a woman who worked as a bodyguard for a General. "I can't punch nearly as hard with my left arm than I can with my right!"

Tetsu took back the phone, now beginning to sound sad. "We can't cope without you!"

Garfiel slumped into a chair in a huff.

"Yeah, we neeeeed ya, little sir," a slurred voice floated down the receiver. "We a' mizz ye a lot…"

"Get away, drunky!" the young boy snapped. "But we all really do miss you."

Winter felt a smile forming. Ed and Al were right. It was as if a crushing weight had been lifted from atop his body, and joy seemed to overcome all the misery. "I'm sorry. I'll head back as soon as I can. Wait for me. And…thank you…all of you."

"He's coming back!" Tetsu cried in sheer delight. A click sounded as he placed the phone down.

That evening, the trio headed to Central train station.

"Are you really ok going by yourself?"

"Yeah. Mr. Garfiel and Paninya said they would wait for me at the station again." As he stepped onto the waiting train, he paused, and without looking back, said, "Thanks for stopping me back there. I almost made sure I could never return."

* * *

"…I've got your retirement notice," Jean's mother said as she stood in the doorway. She took a few tentative steps in and immediately, her expression changed. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"Muscle training," the dark-blonde replied, holding up the weighted clamps. "Might as well build my arms since my legs are useless. Breda gave me them."

"That's not what I'm talking about! I thought your wound hasn't properly healed yet!"

"I have to train my body at some point," He lay back with a sigh. "Besides, my comrades refuse to let me retire. And my superior told me to catch her up. That's a big demand considering I can't move. I mean, there's wheelchairs, but everyone would just fuss over me."

"…So should I put this through?" his mother asked.

"Yeah. I'll only cause them trouble. I might get a yelling for this, but they'll learn." He returned to squeezing the weights. "I'll just endure."

* * *

I know it wasn't the best to learn what happened to mum and dad… Winter thought to himself as he walked to his seat. But this time, I have people waiting for me so…I'll endure. He took his seat and waited for the sisters to join him at the open window.

"Don't forget to take care of your automail," Winter reminded the older girl as he leaned out. "I'll get some new oil for the both of you next time. And a new coat."

"No need," Edwina said. "Alchemy can fix even that."

"And we might not even need oil next time," Alphonsa added hopefully.

The boy looked down to hide his wet eyes. "…Don't die."

"Of course," the female teenagers said in unison. "That, we'll never let you down on!"

Feeling nervous, Edwina leaned in closer as toot of the train's horn indicated its beginning to move.

"What?" Winter said, the words completely drowned. The two turned away, thinking he was just suprized, the younger girl waving, the older placing her hands in her pockets.

"Ed! Wait! I didn't hear you! Please!"

The teenager clenched her fists, and, with her cheeks slightly red, spun on her heel and proclaimed, "Next time we make you cry, it will be tears of joy! Al and I will return restored, and you'll cry out of happiness! So don't you dare shed another tear until then!" She backed back away and shuffled quickly towards the street, trying to hide her now deeply red cheeks and the stares of people around her. Winter smiled again, his heart back to where it should be. Once they were out on the street, Alphonsa managed to trot up to the blonde and whisper, "You're so cute when you blush. Maybe you'll respond to the tears with another one."

"Shut up!" Edwina snapped. "I'm not some lovestuck ditz in a romance book! I just don't like others hearing what we talk about!"

"Suuuuure."

"Don't make me hit you."

Winter sat back. There was a man opposite him, but he did not appear to have been listening in. In his mind, several scenes replayed as something dawned on him. The memory of Edwina commanding him and Pinako build her an arm and a leg, the memory of her saying she would be ready in one year, the memory of the sisters burning their house down. Then, he again, remembered his parent's backs, which again morphed into that of his friends, but this time it went further, changing into Edwina's as she threw herself in front of him. He looked out of the window to the now visible sky. Maybe…I've been in love with her for a long time…

Outside the hotel, the Elrics spotted a familiar black car.

"What are you doing here, Colonel?" Growled Edwina.

"Waiting for you two. The Lieutenant told me you had ignored him in favour of trying to kill Scar. He was rather upset about it. He was worried you two would be killed." She jabbed a thump to the backstreet and waited until the teenagers were seated before switching the engine back on and pulling onto the road. "How did it go?"

"…He got away," Alphonsa begrudgingly said when her sister remained silent.

"I thought so." She could just feel her subordinate's eyes narrowing.

"What did he do with the homunculus?" Edwina asked.

"It's in an abandoned house. Our Xingese helpers are there as well. That's where we're going. Warn me if anyone follows us."

"Right. Oh, how's your injury, by the way? Did the Lieutenant nag you for going back on duty not fully healed?"

"It's beginning to heal well, and it only hurts every now and then." The woman replied. I don't have many co-operating with me, so it's not like I have much of a choice."

"Not very popular? You're going to make a greeeaaat Führer."

"Don't start."

"Just replaying you for the Scar comment."

"…Very well." She turned down Wallflower Street and stopped in front of a house. Edwina and Alphonsa remained inside, watching as she knocked on the door of the second house.

"What are you doing here?" Dr. Knox grumbled upon seeing her.

"There is a young man currently under my care who needs your skills."

The man closed the door slightly. "Then take him to the hospital."

"I can't. His identity cannot be revealed."

"So I have to do the dangerous stuff this time? You really can be a bitch."

"He's only fifteen!" the Onyx-eyed woman cried. "Remember how many kids died in the Civil War! You want another one lost to conflict?! I understand you have a family, but…just…help me, please…accomplice."

The doctor found himself staring at the soldier's eyes. "…I'll get my tools."

"Wait, are you sure?" why did she doubt so much? Where was her confidence?

"Yeah. Besides, my wife divorced me after the war."

The rest of the car ride passed in silence. In the dilapidated house in the now crumbling street, Lan Fan lay in bed, Hawkeye sat next to him and dabbing a wet piece of cloth on his forehead in an attempt to cool him down as he gasped due to much pain and lack of air. His soaking, blood-stained, grime and mud-caked clothes had been removed save his underwear, to preserve his modesty.

"I've only ever worked with corpses, so forgive if I'm a bit rough," Dr. Knox said as he rolled up his sleeves. "You might have a cold too, lad, your fever's higher than it should be, even for this much bloodloss. Why did you go through the sewers?"

"M-my mistress w-wanted me t-to be safe…" the young guard managed to grind out. "I-I don't care if I die…"

"Idiot." The coroner looked up at Hawkeye. "Do you have any medical experience?"

"No," the man replied.

"Well, then, just do exactly as I tell you. Hold down his shoulder."

"Right." The boy winced as he did so.

In the hall, the worried woman cringed as a yell reverberated though the house.

"We need to do it again."

"No, please!" Lan Fan cut himself off with another scream.

"Ling, we…" Edwina could stand the silence no longer, but the other teenager shot a daggered expression at her.

"Are you going to tell me something like 'it's our fault he got hurt'?"

"Yeah. I mean, we did a—"

"We're in the same boat, remember. And I suggested the method. We are helping each other towards both our own goals. And each other's I hope. All the sacrifices that were in pursuit of immortality…that's why I'm here. Lan Fan knew this and still did what he did. I need to stop being so naïve."

"You're like me," Mustang commented to the other dark-haired female. The Colonel was only one not sitting or fidgeting nervously. "You care for your subordinates as you would your family. You consider them your friends, correct?"

"Yes."

"Then that boy will not die. And if he tries to give up, I'm afraid you'll just have to order him not to. I had to. Expect, it was me who was injured."

"I see." The would-be-princess paused before adding. "Even if one of my subordinates, who are also my closest friends, were to die, I know I would keep going, and grieve when things were settled, instead of being so foolish."

"My subordinate thinks the same now, I hope."

Sometime later, Dr. Knox emerged from the room. "The boy's stabilized. You can come in if you want."

Ling stayed behind. She could no longer stand seeing her friend in such a state. Mustang only went in to ask the blonde man to keep watch and once he had left, she returned outside.

Inside, the Elrics apologized to the boy, but with his senses restored, he gave them a similar speech to his boss. They apologized to Hawkeye as well, who smiled in response and squeezed their shoulders.

"May I ask you something, Miss Elric?" the girls noticed the boy soft eyes were fixed on the older female's automail. "Is it…possible….for me to get one of those mechanical…limbs? If…you want…to refuse on…the ground I tried to kill you…"

Edwina grinned. "No, no, you're not the first. You can get one, but it's going to be a long, painful process. I know the perfect mechanic for it, though. Just don't tell him you're the one who made me break my arm again."

The bodyguard smiled back before his eyes closed.

"You know, I don't think we've introduced ourselves, considering what we've done for each other." The solider extended a hand. "I'm Colonel Roya Mustang. My Lieutenant told me you are a princess of Xing."

The younger female inclined her head before shaking her hand. "I am Ling Yao, the hope of my clan and twelfth daughter of the Emperor of Xing. Not a princess. Thank you for finding us a doctor."

"Consider it the thank you for Maria Ross's safety," the Colonel replied.

"I hope we get to know each other more. With your connections to the Military, you can prove a valuable ally."

"And your connections to Xingese Royalty might just help me. Well, while Fullmetal, her sister and the good doctor play nurse, how about we take care of the other task at hand?"

"Sure."

Walking downstairs, their destination was the cellar. Gluttony was even more tightly bond, his limbs looking close to breaking due to his healed flesh – his head pressed against his hands, his legs pulled back against his lower back. He was almost pitiful.

"What is that thing?"

Mustang and Ling jumped and spun around to face the doctor.

"It's a homunculus," the Colonel replied after a moment.

"I thought you were looking after Lan Fan," Ling said aggressively.

"He's ok for now. Besides, whenever the Colonel goes somewhere without telling anyone, she's usually up to something."

The Flame Alchemist stifled a chuckle. "I guess you know me better than I thought."

"If I haven't gone crazy and that thing really is what you say it is, is it true that it has a Philosopher's Stone?"

"Yup. But we're not after that. We need information." The woman reached into her pocket to take out her gloves.

"What? But it's a great opportunity to—"

"Kill many innocent lives?"

"Oh yeah…I forgot for a second there." Knox rubbed the back of his head in shame. "Be careful. Kill it too many times and it's stone will be depleted so much it will die for real."

"I know."

"Thinking about what do to with the homunculus?"

The trio looked to see the last of their little band arriving and glancing in the cellar.

"I thought you were looking after the boy," Dr. Knox responded.

"He's asleep now. I thought we'd give him some peace."

Mustang went on. "I believe the homunculus have some connection to the higher-ups. Maes Hughes apparently found out the link between them, some great secret, and was killed by one of them for it."

"Shit. I'm sorry." Before he could question further, the Emperor's daughter interrupted.

"King Bradley is a homunculus!" she blurted out. "He has that serpent symbol on his left eye. That's why he wears an eye patch. He also has inhumane speed and power. It was that speed and power that almost killed Lan Fan and I, it was that eye that pursued us relentlessly, it was him who sent Gluttony after us and…" Everyone was staring at her.

"Look Ling, we…uh…we thought the same," Edwina felt nervous for some reason.

"But it's just too obvious, don't you think?" Alphonsa continued. "It just feels like something you would read in a book. Besides, he has a family. Surely, they would have noticed. And homunculi are infertile."

"But his daughter is adopted," Knox commented.

The sisters exchanged a glance, both knowing what the other was thinking.

"Oh…" the Xingese girl looked down at the floor. "And we did not sense any homunculus aura from him…but his powers…"

Mustang chuckled, a wide smirk on her features. "Regardless of his humanity, I think it just got easier to throw him off his throne." She looked back at Gluttony. "Maybe this homunculus will tell us. And even if we can't get any information out of him, I'm taking his Philosopher's Stone. Maybe it'll heal Havoc."

"Hey!" Ling barked in response. "I need the thing alive! It could be the key to finding immortality, and I have far more people's fate's hinging on it! The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few! Not forgetting the recent even of one of my dear friends gave up his arm for this! I'm sorry for this…comrade I'm assuming, but I just can't let my clan down or let Lan Fan's sacrifice to be in vain."

Edwina spoke up this time. "Al and I have been trying to regain our bodies for three whole years!"

"And I've been trying to become Führer for almost six years!" The Flame Alchemist retorted.

"What does that have to do with it?!" Alphonsa chipped in. "Besides, if you were to find out that big secret, how do you know you'll survive? Innocent people will be hurt!" She looked at the would-be Princess. "And you came here illegally, so you can't just flitter away again!"

"Hey!" roared Knox, silencing them all. "Will you all stop arguing like a bunch of children?! If you honestly can't decide what do to with that thing, just have a vote!"

"But everyone will just vote for themselves," the Flame Alchemist. "Maybe you could be our majority voter?"

The doctor took a moment to think. "Fine. I might not know everything about this, but fine. I'll just go on what you all tell me."

It was only that everyone noticed the plumb being speaking and the ropes around him shaking.

"…Killed Lust…Colonel Mustang killed Lust…Colonel Mustang killed Lust…" the creature was pushing against its binds, and the group, finally noticing the noise, the group found themselves just watching. "Mustang killed lust…" Gluttony's eyes seemed to burn with hatred. "MUSTANG KILLED LUST!" with that scream, the robes around the being snapped as it stood. Again, everyone could only watch, with horror this time, as upon the creature's chest the skin and clothing opened like an eyelid lined with teeth as he repaired himself.

A blast of pure energy levelled half the house.

* * *

**Author's Note:**** I felt both a bit silly and rather amused by the times where I have to get into an animal's head. Then again, it is good, as I will doing with my original story, I will show the animals as well…animals, and not just attackers or robotic modes of transport. I'll stop before I start rambling.**

**I bet you all know what I am about to say next, dear reader, so I won't say it. But I do have something of an idea for the next chapter.**

**I'm suprized I got this out relatively fast, considering it is one of the longer chapters.**


	45. Chapter 45

**Chapter 45**

_**The Monster Within**_

"Why did you let Scar get away?" the still-childlike voice asked. Bradley paused. "On top of that, Gluttony has been captured by humans."

"I know," replied Pride's 'brother'.

"Then why are you not you going after them?!" the slightly hissing, slightly metallic voice took up the whole alleyway, but her dark figure was visible this time. "This is not like you!"

The Führer smiled and gave a small laugh in response.

"You are…happy? Things are going wrong!"

The man placed his hands behind his back. "I won't deny that I'm a little happy…it's precisely because things are going wrong." He leaned against a wall beside the dark passage.

"What?!"

"I was born and created to rule this land, and did just that. No one got in my way—"

"Father and I took care of them," Pride corrected more sternly.

"The point is, my life has gone exactly the way it was planned. A little variation will do me good. The Elric Sisters, Colonel Mustang, and those foreigners are messing with us…perhaps it is time we let the young ones play."

"You grow sympathetic of them?" Pride's mood grew threatening. "They treat us as monsters when our basic biology surpasses them!"

"I understand. I just want to see how long it takes for them to fail on their own."

Pride took a moment to herself. "…I will not inform Father of these rather rebellious remarks."

"Oh, I'm saved." He hoped his 'sister' would understand the sarcasm this time.

"What will do about Gluttony, then?"

It seemed not. "I have an idea where they are. And I think Gluttony will do just fine on his own. Or he will die. We shall see."

* * *

"Lunch, Doctor," Envy said in a bored manner as it walked over to the rickety bed and table in one far corner of the chimera room. He was exactly as it had left him at breakfast – sitting on the bed, hunched over, arms limp.

"You need to eat, Doctor," the black-clad being put on a tone of concern. "You're getting thin. An important sacrifice needs to be healthy." It put down the plate. "You'll eat both of these by tomorrow, or I'll just have to force you." It sat down at the table. "I'm staying here until you eat the first. The chimeras are fed enough."

"…What are planning on doing with me?" the Crystal Alchemist's voice was quiet and slightly hoarse.

"That's a secret I'm afraid," Envy replied as it lent on one elbow and looked at their guest. "If you'd just co-operate, we'll show something fun."

"…'Something fun'?" Marcoh clasped his hands to his chest, drawing up his legs as he did so. "You mean taking using the lives of everyone in this country to make a powerful Philosopher's Stone?" the man looked daggers at the creature. Envy was genuinely suprized. "Right now you're making a giant Transmutation Circle out of this country, yes? My guess is you're going to the north next?"

After a moment, the homunculus's mouth slid back into its grin. "You're right. You are smart, Doctor." It stood up and moved so its face was before his. "But what can you do? You know what will happen if stick your nose in. I mean, you could at least help us, and we might just spare you, but the more you just sit there, the less that chance is getting."

He drew himself tighter. "My friends will die either way. Why should I?"

"No, no," Envy waggled a finger in front of the man's face. "We said we wouldn't do it if you don't tell anyone, and we'll keep to that. Just think of it as a scale. The rest of the country's people, people you don't know, over those of your beloved village."

"You can't just add and subtract human lives! Even if I can't do anything to help either, there are people out there who will!"

Envy let out a cackle. "And we'll just crush them. You humans are so simple, really." It walked back over to the table to sit back down in the chair, picking up the food knife after it had. "I killed a man a few weeks ago, because I turned into his wife and he couldn't attack." It thrust the knife in the steak on the plate and took a bite. "Humans are so easy to break." It realised the man was no longer paying attention to it. Following his eyes, he saw Wrath stepping through the doors.

"Y-Your Highness?" Marcoh gasped as the man approached them. "Good day, Doctor Marcoh. It is good to see you again, though you don't look your best."

The Crystal Alchemist opened his mouth to ask an array of questions, but Bradley turned to Envy and said. "Gluttony has been captured by Mustang."

"What?!" the older Homunculus cried. "I thought you were supposed to take care of her! You could have sent Pride or something."

"Pride makes her own choices."

"Damn her! Showing up just to berate us and not doing anything to help!"

"The oldest sibling is always like that. Father has ordered the two of us to recue Gluttony."

Envy quickly finished the steak before standing up. "I bet he's going to go a bit crazy." As they walked towards the door, Envy glance back to say. "Eat. And think about that scale."

At what was going to be their destination, upon recovering, Hawkeye rushed into the long crater along the ground and into the dust and broken wood that was once almost half a house. He called out for the Colonel, Edwina and Alphonsa as he looked through the darkness.

"Don't come in, Lieutenant!" he heard his Colonel gasp out somewhere.

"Where are you? Are you hurt? Edwina?! Alphonsa?!" his voice faded and he leapt back in suprize as the plump homunculus rose from the wood and rushed at him, knocking him aside before turning back to the house. Stunned once again, the man took a little longer to recover, but upon seeing the creature, or rather, the _thing_ in its chest, he felt his fear raise yet more. Doing his best to ignore it for the moment, he narrowed his eyes and pointed his pistol at Gluttony.

There was a crash, followed by a cry of "Don't shoot, Lieutenant!". The blonde man looked over at the house, to see Alphonsa emerge with Mustang, Edwina and Knox rather squashed in her arms. She shook off the dust as she placed them down. Thanks to the armour girl's quick thinking, no one had broken anything. Even Xiao Mei was fine if dizzy as she moved into one the younger Elric's sollerets in an attempt to feel safe.

Mustang ran forwards. "Lieutenant, if you shoot it, it will just get more out of control! Its target is me, but I need you to hold back!" Sure enough, the homunculus was looking at her.

"MUSTANG!" it screamed, the void on its chest grotesquely grew until it joined with its mouth, making it all jagged white and darkness. All raced down what they hoped was not the cul-de-sac as Gluttony drew another crater in the street. The sharpshooter once more narrowly avoided it. For a moment, Mustang wondered if the city would ever recover from the amount of destruction it had suffered.

"We need to get to a more open place," The Colonel said as they moved around a corner.

"The forest," Edwina suggested. "Let's lead it to the clearing."

"Good plan." She turned to Knox. "You go back to the house. I don't want you dying because of me."

"Fine by me," the man replied. "I'm gonna get that boy somewhere safe too."

"…Good luck." The Flame Alchemist did not know what she hesitated.

As the remaining four emerged back on the main street and Mustang called out to the searching homunculus, Edwina found herself wondering if Ling and Lan Fan were ok. Once they were in the forest, they hid among the trees to catch their breaths, separating slightly just in case. They saw Gluttony still only a few feet behind them, but he seemed confused, spinning in circles and sniffing in an attempt to find them. Everyone clamped their hands over their ears as he let out a great, deafening roar. The trees around them were torn from their roots as an intense wind started, and they threw themselves upon the ground to avoid being sucked away. In a few moments, there were only patches of grass and a few stumps or hollowed-out soil. Alphonsa stood first, just in time to the last bits of bark and wood fly into the being's maw.

The group gathered close again.

"…Scar had a point," Edwina said suddenly and quietly. "…Alchemy just creates monsters like this…"

"This is no time to lose faith, Nee-san!" Alphonsa retorted. "We, the three of us, are good alchemists; we use it for good reasons. Doctor Marcoh as well, no matter what he's done."

"Speaking of which…" Mustang pulled on her glove. "I'm afraid we have no choice but to kill that creature." Before anyone could snap back she added, "Survival comes first." Mustang send out one of her larger flames, somewhat looking forward to hearing Gluttony scream. The being almost seemed to laugh. The flames disappeared into its void, not leaving a single scorch. "I – eh – shit!"

The turned and ran, barely avoiding burning.

"I knew that was going to happen!" Edwina yelled, sounding serious.

"Then why didn't you say something!" the woman snapped back.

"As if you'd listen!"

"You try something then!"

"Lead him away from us and I might able to!"

Alphonsa was about to silence them both until the dark-haired woman spoke again. "Alright. At the clearing, we split up."

As they reached it, they split into their usual pairs and then separated further, into an arc.

As she weaved throughout the trees, the Flame Alchemist noticed Gluttony was no longer behind her. She did not think for a second she was safe, and increased her pace to the fullest, looking around her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a black shape; she dove to the side as Gluttony charged her diagonally, striking out with its now elongated teeth. She felt it leave a deep wound in her arm. As she came out of the rather clumsy roll, she heard gunshots, and felt both annoyed and a bit happy at Hawkeye sidesteping around the creature, firing all ten bullets. Of course, Gluttony healed. With no time to reload, he moved beside his superior and joined her as she started running again.

"Will you stop doing that?" Mustang's voice was its most authoritative. "I mean, thank you the distraction, but you keep wasting bullets, and now that thing's going to be after you too!"

"I'm sorry, but I just can't help it," the man replied. "Besides, you did the same when I, Fuery and Havoc were in danger."

"I'm supposed to! I'm—" a burning pain pierced her side, as if she was being stabbed all over again. "Damn it!" she fell to her knees, clutching at the place. The blonde saw Gluttony coming in close again, he saw him stop, getting ready. Pulling one of the woman's arms over his shoulders, he started to move again, but the creature fired. Suddenly he found himself flying, not into oblivion, but to the side, and looked up just in time to see the small explosion of flames die out, leaving behind a radius scorched earth. The two of them skidded after landing, coming to a suddenly halt against a tree. The homunculus ran on.

"Heh…that worked…" Mustang said, smirking in between light panting.

Hawkeye looked down at the burnt holes in his shoes and trousers and then hers. "Yes. As incredibly reckless as it was."

"Come now, Lieutenant, you…expect that now, right?"

"Oh, I do. That was just a new kind…" As he helped the female officer to her feet a voice somewhere in his head said: _But you like that she's rash. It's saved your life on several occasions and other people's. It's led to good things._

At the house, Ling had finally freed herself with the doctor's help. She had been buried up to her chest, the others having left without even noticing. She had been sure she would suffocate, the pressure close to bone breaking. She felt dizzy as she stood, taking a moment to gulp in air and look at the new gashes on her arms, legs and stomach before followed Doctor Knox upstairs. They opened the door to find another of the black-clad beings leaning over Lan Fan's still form.

"Oh, hi there!" Envy greeted, turned to them with a grin while patting the sleeping boy on his head. "I just thought I'd pay my several-times-killer a visit."

Ling instantly forgot about the pain and leapt at the creature, her fist raised. She only landed on the bed after her hand painfully struck wood. Envy paused at the edge of the intact house, the young guard effortlessly tucked under one arm. "I'm just taking him away from the destruction so I can personally repay him."

As Ling gave chase, Dr Knox cursed himself. He headed back downstairs and outside.

Even when she lost sight of Envy, Ling knew exactly where the being was and found it again and again. She ignored everything else around her. She considered the others friends, and knew she should help them, but Lan Fan was her closest friend. His safety mattered the most. As she reached a clearing, the presence suddenly dropped. She looked around, and near the edge, was Lan Fan. A part of her mind told her it was a ploy, abut she did not care. She raced over to him and fell to her knees, pulling him into her arms again.

"Y-Young Mistress…run…" he gasped out, his body shivering against the cold. "It-it's still here…"

"I know…" she whispered back, just in case. Her slit eyes flicked from here to there, the aura still faint. Suddenly, a squirrel from a nearby tree leapt down at her. She saw the energy charge, but was too slow to dodge. Envy pinned her arms to the ground.

"It would be so easy to kill your friend before you got here," the creature said with a triumphant smirk. "But, while I usually perfer making my kills quick and quiet, I thought it would be so much better if my dear attacker saw his dear friend suffer like I did before I put him out of his misery."

Lan Fan was too weak as much as think. He was not even sure where he was anymore.

Her teeth clenched while mentally cursing her foolishness, Ling kicked the homunculus. It caused the creature's grin to falter, it only seeming distracted, but it gave her the a moment to wrench one arm free, before jamming two fingers in the wispy-haired being's eyes. It yowled, and reached it's free hand up to check for damage, causing the other one to loosen as she had hoped. Before the creature could stand up, she launched a variety of punches, chops and kicks (in opposite to her retainers, she mostly used her hands to fight, and her legs to block), striking it's stomach, and face, blocking most of its own strikes with a swung of her body downwards, or the thrust of a leg.

Envy gave her as much – she swung a kick, it dodged, grabbed and twisted, bring her down and delivering several punches to her stomach. It made her dizzy, and one instance cough blood, but she fought through it, kicked and rolled out of the trap. She swung at its throat; it grabbed her wrist, drew her forward and drove its fist on her spine, not to break it, but just to cause her enough pain to stop. She felt a grin spread on her face when it struck her how much she was a match for the immortal – she would surely avenge Lan Fan – that was until it quickly moved behind her and seized her ponytail. She twisted around, ready to send its head flying to the side, but Envy grinned before sending his own fist into her stomach. It was one too many. Her legs suddenly feeling weak, she fell to the ground, curling into the foetal position.  
Envy rolled her onto her back and placed its knees tight against her sides, then it circled its hands around her throat. Ling's quickly waning air supply from her weakened state only made her fight harder. She forwent skilled and well-placed blows for just raining down as many as she could. Her vision became to blur. It was had not been this bad even in that long time of being buried. The creature was almost crushing her throat. Her limbs grew too heavy, and her punches became desperate scratches. She was not going to die weak and trapped – but the darkness was creeping over her vision. Her arms went limp.

She suddenly felt strange. She felt like she was floating, or rather, slowly falling. Her arms and legs felt less heavy, but her head and body felt too light. There was nothing around her, so sight, no smell, no sound. But before she could wonder further, a burst of white light filled her eyes. She felt a rushing sensation, then the ground beneath her again. But the crushing feeling did not return. One of Envy's hands was up, trying to shield its eyes, the stream of light coming from the right. She smacked her opponent in the jaw, knocking it to the side just enough to squirm free. She sat up. The light belonged to a jeep, and whoever was inside was switching it on and off. Once the black-clad being was suitably disorientated, she saw a figure step out and move towards Lan Fan, thankful but still suspicious, as she moved up behind them. Placing a hand on the person's shoulder, she pulled them around – and almost sighed in relief when she saw it was Doctor Marcoh.

"I thought you didn't want to get involved in these fights," she remarked as the man carried the boy to the car, placed him in the middle seat and drew the blanket there over him.

"Equally, I'm a doctor getting into saving lives. I can't let my first living patient die."

"Thank you." She climbing into the front seat. As they drove back through the forest, the girl could not help but glance back at Lan Fan periodically.

Spotting the Elrics as they hid behind a fallen branch, the bespectacled man pulled up beside them. "Get in, quickly, before that thing realises something's up."

"No!" Edwina replied, her voice low just in case. "We can't just let it rampage!"

"More innocents could be hurt!" emphasized Alphonsa.

They all heard footsteps and turned, the girls readying. The Colonel and Lieutenant emerged from the bushes, the woman's arm once more swung over the man's shoulders as he held her up by her waist.

"We're leaving," Hawkeye said before glancing at the sisters.

"…this is _so_ embarrassing…" Mustang muttered for the sixth time.

Ignoring it, Hawkeye lowered her into the backseat and took his own place next to her, his eyes drawn to the wheezing boy in front.

The Flame Alchemist folded her arms, pouting for a moment before reaching out for the door. Hawkeye seized her wrist.

"I'm not going to run away when this is happening!" she snapped, sounding more like a tantruming child than a soldier doing her duty.

No one was in the mood for protest.

"You'll just be a burden right now!" Edwina said, this time not being blunt out of dislike. "You're _useless._"

There was that word again. That word that diminished everything she did.

Edwina sighed. "You can still do what you need to. Like finding out what our great leader really is, for example. And figure out how to deal with it. You just can't fight for a while."

The kind words felt strange coming from Fullmetal, but she responded with a nod. The male solider slipped the female blonde a smile.

"Ok, ok, enough with the chatting and get in!" Knox cried.

"Sorry. We're not letting that thing destroy anything more." She looked at the Colonel. "We'll try to info out of it. If not, we'll kill it."

"My thoughts exactly," commented Ling as she stepped out of car. "With this creature being so destructive, bringing it back to Xing would be foolish.

"Idiots!" the corner yelled.

"We're not leaving children on the battlefield!" Hawkeye added just as loudly.

"Children would run away from this at the slightest opportunity," Ling replied.

"It was our fault all this happened," Alphonsa continued. "We planned to lure a homunculus, and we got our wish.

"So we need to finish it," Edwina concluded.

Doctor Knox shook his head. "Fine. Just don't get too hurt."

As frustrated, Hawkeye drew his pistol again and reloaded it. Edwina took a step back as he held it out to her. "Edwina, take it. If alchemy fails, you need some kind of back-up."

All the alchemists could think about was Winter's anguished face. Edwina tried to protest, but no sound left her mouth. She had never liked guns anyway, but after that…

"It's a machine for killing people," Alphonsa spoke up for the both of them.

"It's a machine for survival," the Lieutenant corrected.

_Don't die…_ echoed Winter's words. Tentatively, the Fullmetal Alchemist took the gun with the offered barrel and put in her trouser pocket. "…Just in case, then."

She had had hardly finished the sentence when a roar sounded from somewhere in the denser forest. The young women turned to see more trees disappearing. Ling quickly turned away as her retained attempted to speak through his raising fever, breaking into a run. The alchemists following behind.

"Young Mistress!" screamed Lan Fan.

"Easy," the Lieutenant said, picking up the rag that had fallen to mop the boy's brow.

Knox fought the urge to smash his face off the wheel, instead setting for banging his fist against it. "Stupid, insolent children!"

Mustang sighed in frustration. "I suppose we have no choice. Let's go."

"They're going to get themselves killed!"

"I…think they can handle it," the woman replied.

The corner sighed. He started up the engine. As they sped along the road leading back the city, the Colonel and doctor explained what they had heard to Hawkeye.

"But how will we find out if it's true?" Hawkeye asked, his tone barely slight disbelief.

"I'm not sure…let's start formulating…"

"If it is true that could mean the whole Ishvalan conflict was caused by homunculi...homunculi that pretend to be people…disgusting…" the bespectacled man hissed.

In the forest, Gluttony carved yet another devastating grove. "Where are you?! _Where are you?!_"

The group of young women were concealed in the bushes as they watched.

"So…does anyone have any plans?" Edwina asked. "I don't think punching it will do any good…I supposed that we could revert it to normal…with alchemy…somehow…"

"Then where do I come in?" Ling asked disgruntledly.

"Keeping track of it."

"Um…guys…" Alphonsa tapped each of them on the shoulder simultaneously. They looked to see Gluttony still a few feet away, but looking right at them. Ling felt the blast just graze her feet as they launched themselves to the left before running on. Once Ling had reached a point where the aura felt fainter, where the trees were far closer, she indicated they stop.

"Any plans now?" she asked the Amestrians. "I was thinking we just lead it around until it gets tired, then strike back."

"If we survive that long," Edwina replied. "But I don't think it's going to get tried soon…"

Alphonsa was again not paying attention to the conversation. Xiao Mei, who at some point had wedged herself between the back of the girl's neck and the guard, had squeezed back out and hopped onto the ground, her nose twitching.

"Guys!" she again cried.

The older females looked around again. Ling felt the aura picking up.

"Hello again, Princess," Envy greeted as once more it leapt down from the shadows of a tree branch. "I know if I stayed still I'd find you faster." It smirked turning the gaze the Fullmetal Alchemist. "It's been a while, bean-girl."

While the alchemists braced themselves in silence, Ling took on a smirk rather similar to the wispy-haired being. "Here's a way I can be very useful."

* * *

**Author's Note:**** Was the little bit with Hawkeye's little realisation too cheesy? I thought I wrote Winter's realisation in regards to his parents well, but this…I just thought it would be a sweet moment. But it is rather silly, isn't it, dear readers?**

**And I hope the whole strangulation thing was not too cliché either. That was the 'something of an idea' I mentioned, since you know, you guys want me to change it up a bit. I tried. I just let that spark ignite.**

**This was surprisingly short, too.**

**As always, thank you ^_^.**


	46. Chapter 46

**Chapter 46**

_**Serpent's Cross**_

"WHO – DID – YOU – CALL – A DWARF-SIZED, ITTY BITTY GIRL WITH BEAN-SIZED TITS THAT MAKE HER LOOK LIKE A LITTLE BOY?!" Edwina screamed as she leapt and swung her fists at Envy in quick succession. Ling stayed back, feeling…curious?

Giving a small cry of "Whoa" Envy sidestepped from the left to the right to avoid the four punches, before having to duck to avoid a kick.

"I don't want to fight you, Bean!" Envy said, waving its hands after taking a few steps back.

"That's _three _times!" Edwina yelled, as she swung again. Her anger was adding to the reason for her missing. "Three times you've insulted my size! Once in the laboratory, and now twice more here! And you even found a new title!"

"Really? You remembered that? I thought you'd be more angry about me punching you and then carrying your unconscious form around." Envy's eyes almost became saucers when it realised what it had just said.

A hellish expression appeared on the blonde's face as she placed her hands onto a tree. Using a branch, some of the trunk and leaves, she quickly constructed a long swing and sent it hurtling at the black-clad being's head. Edwina growled in frustration as the log obliterated only the bush Alphonsa and Ling still sat in, the two narrowly avoiding the collision.

"That's enough, Nee-san!" Alphonsa yelled, storming over to the girl and clamping her hands around her torso, pinning her arms. "We have a job to do, remember?"

Edwina took a few breaths before nodding. Alphonsa placed her down.

"Ah, siblings are always the best to calm down someone." The young women spun to see Gluttony and Envy a few feet away. Instantly they prepared, but the plump homunculus just muttered to itself, the void and the eye at its centre dulled. "Want to get Mustang…so hungry…she must die…would be so tender…"

"Well, you can't eat her. Father says so."

"But what about Lust?" its 'brother' began to cry.

Envy moved back to face the girls and noticed them all in fighting stances.

"Ready for round two?" Ling asked, her own grin returned.

Envy responded with the same expression, but was looking back at Gluttony. "If you're really that hungry, Gluttony," it pointed. "You can eat Squinty Eyes over there. We don't need her." It gestured from the would-be-princess to the sisters and back again. "No Elrics, yes, her. Got it?"

The plump man wiped his eyes. "Ok."

Edwina, Alphonsa and Ling looked at each other and nodded. As Gluttony readied, Ling sprinted to the side. The remaining two created a deep pit with the younger homunculus. They knew it was risky, they knew it even with its thickness that the wall would soon break, but at they had to familiarize with the tougher fights. Bounding of the way of the first blast, they rushed at the homunculus from each side.

"I hate to admit it, but you're quite the match," Envy said as it walked over to face the young woman, deliberately following the girls' plan. "No wonder you can take on Wrath."

Ling nodded and charged. She hit Envy across the face again, and it responded with another strike to her stomach, but she tensed her muscles upon seeing its fist draw back, preventing herself from being winded. It moved its other fist, but she blocked it with the back of her bent forearm. She retaliated with a chop, but the creature reached up and grabbed her wrist.

"Gotcha! That was fast."

For a moment, the dark-haired girl watched as the creature's arm elongated, its skin becoming scales and its hand becoming a tail. She tried to pull back, but the tight grip wound up her arm, and around her throat.

"So what will it be?" the black-haired creature asked as it wound an extra coil her neck, also pulling up her bound arm as the rest of its body united in the reptilian form. "Strangled, bitten or slashed? Strangling would be the slowest, if slightly less painful." Ling pulled at the wound muscle with her free hand but they did not even shift.

"Hm…I'd rather be…" without the homunculus seeing, she dug her foot into the muddied ground below them, caught a piece on her foot and kicked high upwards, launching it into creature's face.

"Argh! Again!" it cried.

With no blade to chop, she sank her teeth into the snake flesh. It drew off a chunk, not enough to server, but enough to made Envy pull back in pain. She spat out the blood and flesh as she took hold of the loosened tail, and used the blade at the end to slice the coils off her. She watched as Envy's broken body squirmed pathetically, before it rejuvenated, but as she moved to crush its head, it sliced across her shins before slithering back to change back into its favoured form. The wound on both legs was nothing more than a sting.

"You really fight dirty." The fourth oldest homunculus commented as it stood.

The black-haired young woman spoke. "As the heir to my clan, I've faced assassination attempts since I was little. I learned. You're quite sneaky, yourself. However, all of this would stop if you would just surrender. I dearly want to kill you, and that other one – Wrath was it – for harming my friend. However, I know my priorities. I just need information on the Philosopher's Stone and how to obtain one."

Envy's eyes narrowed to slits. "I'd rather die than surrender to weaklings!"

Ling's eyes expanded, but were also angry and determined. "Don't underestimate humans."

The alchemists had finally managed to move behind Gluttony. Together, they created a far deeper hole in the ground, and used the earth around to construct a wall, and the tiny amount of rocks to craft a lid, which they heaved on top of the well. After a few minutes, they gave each other a high five. They jumped when a thud sounded, coming from in the well. Another thud, and they realised something was pushing against the lid. It had to be some poor animal. Another thud and the lid cracked. One fragment of the destroyed lid hit the older girl in the stomach as Gluttony came hurtling out. They looked up to see him hanging from his long, long ribs like white stilts.

"Maybe…the old-fashioned way might work," Edwina said hoarsely as Alphonsa pulled the piece of rock off her. As Gluttony descended, she sent out an earthen fist, making sure to hit him in the side. The still long ribs cracked into stubs as he fell onto his back. Barely ducking under a desperate punch, Edwina kicked the being back to the ground as it attempted to sit up. Alphonsa moved behind it this time, and just Scar before, locked her arms with his, pulling them up and back.

"Gotcha!" she declared happily.

"…What now…?" Edwina asked as she walked up to the both of them.

"Tie him up – tighter – ngh –" Gluttony was struggling greatly.

In the forty-two stride distance away, Ling could still see them. Smirking, she leaned forwards enough to smash her forehead into Envy's, before sweeping her leg behind its before moving it up, causing the being to fall before sprinting back to other combatants. "I'll carry it again." She looked around, "But I don't think Renkinjutsu vines will do much good…" She heard a _whoosh_ behind her, and turned around to slice, almost casually, one of her opponent's legs with the blade she had ripped from its snake form. As it spiralled to the ground behind her, she wondered why the leg designated but not the metal pressing painfully into her hand.

As the girl raised the blade to finish, Envy sighed quietly. _The old-fashioned way it is then._ It transformed into Lan Fan, slightly disappointed that it could not reproduce his injured state. Still the young woman immediately froze with a horrified look on her face. "Go Gluttony."

It's 'brother' had just managed to throw Alphonsa off him, and looked towards the would-be-princess. Even before he started drawing in, Edwina ran towards the motionless girl, shouting "Move!"

"No!" Envy cried aloud as the slightly younger woman tackled Ling. It reached up, grabbing the Amestrian's leg.

"Nee-san!" Alphonsa cried, rushing forwards to reach them, the ripped-up mud and trees battering her about. She struggled through what seemed like a mile, reached out. Her hand touched something solid. Her grip slipped away moments later. Then everything became calm. Alphonsa instantly caught sight of her still reaching arm. Her hand was no longer there, and had been over the carved earth. Down in the crater were patches of clothing and blood.

"Oh...I ate too much..." Gluttony said. "Whoops…"

Alphonsa tackled him to the ground. "Give her back! _You give me sister back, you bastard!_ GIVE HER BACK!" She shook him as she shouted."_And give back Ling too! _I_ – _I can't have another person die because of my uselessness!"

"I can't…" Gluttony said. The void was closing. "I swallowed them…"

"_I'll make you let them go!"_ she grabbed the still closing ribs, and pulled with all her might, ignoring the creature's cries. They closed. Alphonsa shoved the plump being as she moved away. "There is a way!" She fell to her hands and knees, her voice falling. "I _know_ there's a way. I just need to think like Nee-san…"

Even though she was still unsure about the grey creature, Xiao Mei hoped down from the tree she had perched in, climbed her shoulder and nuzzled her.

* * *

With new bandages and an IV in his arm for the last half an hour, Lan Fan felt better, though the dull throb persisted. As he struggled to sit up, causing a spike of pain and more sweating, Dr. Knox looked up from his hasty tidying of the dust and rubbish coated floor.

"Lie back down," the man said, dropping his things to grab the boy by shoulders.

"Where am I?" the boy asked.

"My house. Sorry it's such a tip."

"I need to get back to my mistress…it was foolish of me to want to die instead…"

The man gave an exasperated sigh. "You've been saying this the whole journey here! What does it take to get this through your head, idiot?!" He jabbed a finger at the lopsided mirror on the wall on one side of the bed. "Look at yourself! What can you do in this condition?!" The boy looked. He was pale, with great bags under his eyes, his hair plastered to his head and face, the bandage around his chest developing another stain from his struggles. He fell back down onto the bed with a heave. He covered his eyes with his arm as he started to cry.

Dr. Knox patted his head before sitting on the rickety chair beside the mirror. "You'll be with your mistress again soon. The more you rest, the faster you'll recover."

The boy continued to sob until sleep took him.

Outside Central HQ, after a brief argument with Hawkeye, Mustang had managed to convince him she could walk on her own and, and that, _no_, she could _not_ stay home and wait until the morning, the two of them hurried towards her office. Both had returned home to don spare uniforms beforehand. Even in these early morning hours, no one took much notice of them.

"The enemy probably knows I'm involved in the capture of Gluttony," the Flame Alchemist remarked as she adjusted her cuffs. "If we find out the Führer really is a homunculus, we'll need to make more allies, and because of these, I'm thinking about telling more neutral comrades."

"That is a bit _too_ risky," Hawkeye commented. "What if they don't believe you, or tell the Führer?"

"I'll be careful."

As they stepped out of the door, the alchemist spoke again. "You wait here."

Of course, he nodded and took up a position by the door, but had begun to think that he was displaying a bit too much concern. Without looking back, the Colonel added. "If anything happens, make sure to escape."

"No," the blonde replied.

His superior turned back, her arms folded. "That's an order."

"I refuse."

His superior took the few steps back before him, looking up into his eyes, her voice low. "Stop being so stubborn. If you disobey, something bad will happen to you, and the others as well. Have you forgotten your little run-in with the female homunculus? Who will continue my work, then?"

Hawkeye placed his hands behind his back. "I learned from you that stubbornness is a key to success." he looked directly into her eyes. "So long as your goals lays incomplete, and at least one of us lives, you will not allow yourself to die."

The woman was taken aback slightly. "Well…" she heaved a sign of mingled frustration and relief. "Thank for having such faith. I guess it's one of the reasons I picked you all." She turned and set back off. "I'll be back in a while." _...How am I going to get into the meeting…?_ She thought to herself as she headed up the stairs. _And where do I begin with making more allies…? The Generals? No, too high. The Captains? That might still be too risky…aha! I'll start with the underlings! Then they'll tell their superiors and— they might just tell them I'm crazy. _She sighed. _Why is this so hard?! Maybe if I discussed it— _She jumped and stifled a yelp between clenched teeth as someone grabbed her shoulder from behind and boisterously greeted. "Yo, Mustang! Good to see you on your feet again! I knew a little wound wouldn't stop the great Flame Alchemist from…" the Lieutenant General's voice faded upon seeing the woman fall to her knees, making a groan of pain. "Oh, sorry, a bit delicate right now, are we?"

"No," the woman growled as she only managed to half-stand from the spasm. "It just hasn't healed fully."

"Sorry again. I bet Lieutenant Hawkeye gave you a scolding for coming back not fully recovered. I like that you're so determined. Shame about your other subordinate though…"

"Yes. Why are you out here, anyway? I thought there was an emergency meeting." She managed to stand up fully now.

The dark-skinned man rubbed the side of his neck. "I…snuck out for a bit. I know the city's in shambles and all, but I just can't cope with the stress of it for very long. So, what are you doing here?"

"I've been inspecting the city. It seems this place survived well." Mustang started to walk for some reason, the man following beside her.

"Well, there are a few scratches and cracks. Hoping to find and capture the culprit, eh?"

"Indeed. Though I didn't find anything but gossip from the police, along with a little something from Fullmetal."

"Do tell."

"Well, there's Scar having teamed-up with a child who uses alchemy, undying opponents, and King Bradley being a homunculus."

Raven stopped walking and looked at the female officer. His bottom lip began to quiver. Then he burst into a great cackle.

"That's a good one. I just don't get why some officers in Central who _still_ don't like you."

"Well, no one can be liked by all."

"Grand and I think highly of you, though. We look forward to you joining us. I think we need more women at the top. Olivier Armstrong, I can understand, but I don't see why Heilwig Jäger wasn't accepted on the council. You're a sure thing, though."

The onyx-eyed soldier smiled. "Thank you."

The man slipped his arm around the woman's shoulders, hurrying her along. The others should be on a break now. You tell them that little joke. We need things like that in a time like this."

"B-But I'm not high enough a rank…" the Flame Alchemist tried to say as they came upon the conference room door. The General pushed open the door. "Hey, guys, Colonel Mustang has a little something to say!"

The woman felt sweat bloom from the neck of her neck as the brass members fixed their haughty, cold eyes on her. Her own eyes moved around until they saw the Führer was still present as well.

"Well…" she began. "A subordinate of mine and I…we were wondering if you are a homunculus, Your Highness..."

Everything was so still and quiet. Then Bradley chuckled, accompanied by that of several other brass, before standing up and walking until he was before the woman, fixing her with his gaze. "Is it is a problem if I am?"

The woman looked down at the floor, one fist clenching in self-directed anger. _I'm sorry I didn't realise what you meant sooner Maes…_

* * *

As her eyes slipped open, a wave of nausea crashed over her from the smell. Fighting it down, Edwina tentatively flexed her limbs, checking they were all working. Even her automail were still fully functional. As she sat up and heard the trickles, she realised she had been lying in liquid. She really did vomit when she recognised the smell and sight.

"…Am I still alive?" Edwina thought as she gathered her mind together and wiped her mouth. "This looks like hell…" bones, skulls, what seemed to be pieces of furniture, wood – even stone pillars – along with unidentifiable objects bobbed in the pool stretching out around her. She felt her chest, and her heart still beat. "Al?" her voice echoed. "Al?! Ling?" There was nothing, but she called for what seemed like a long time as she walked. "_Al!_". Why were they always separated? Not even an animal's answer came. A note of panic rose – there seemed no end to the pool bar tiny islands of pink and red...objects.

"_Where the hell am I_?" she shouted.

* * *

**Author's Note:**** Hm…there was really much I could do with this chapter (again), considering it is another all-fighting one. At least I tried.**

**However, even though I know it will still be much of the same, the 'Gluttony's Stomach' chapter is another one I'm looking forward to doing.**

**I still hope you enjoyed it.**

**Thank you ^_^ (I think by now I need to get a new 'end greeting', as I think it sounds like I don't really care, due to how automated it is). From chapter fifty, I'll try something different, less cliché.**


	47. Chapter 47

**Chapter 47**

_**The Belly of the Beast**_

Edwina took several deep breaths as she stood. "Ok…ok…I need to calm down and think…I need to work out where I am…hysteria is for children…" but no thoughts came, she looked around again and noticed what seemed to be whole trees floating around her. "God, I kind of wish one of homunculi were here right now…I could bash their face in for information…" she tried calling one last time. "Al! _Al! Aaaaallll!_" she ignored the returning panic. "Gluttony! Ling! Hey, Princess Squinty Eyes!"

Something bright appeared in the corner of her eye. She turned to see what seemed to be fire, growing nearer. She raised her fists, but when the figure came into her view, she felt like embracing her – it had felt like she had been alone for hours – but suspicion rose as she took a few steps. "Wait…how do I know you're the real Ling?"

"Hm…I'll list everything I ate at the hotel – three plates of beef stew, one bowl of tomato soup, three slices of chocolate gateau—"

"Ok, so it is you."

Feeling the suspicion was telling, the martial artist said, "How do I know you're the real Edwina, you child-sized midget."

"WHO DID YOU CALL A MICRO-SPECK?!"

"Very convincing…but still not enough. How much was the cost of my meal at the hotel."

"One-hundred and fifty-two cens."

"It is you then." Her expression became annoyed. "In that case, I am, once again, not a 'princess', and Squinty Eyes is _still_ racist."

They resumed walking, both feeling more hopeful now that they were together.

"Have you figured out where we are?" the alchemist asked.

"No, but I have a theory. Among various other things, I passed skeletons, bits of metal, and even fire in my travelling." She gestured to the flame-torch. "That's how I got this." Edwina felt a little unnerved as she noticed the shaft of the illuminator was made of a bone. From within a pocket in the (now torn and stained) oversized coat Dr Knox had given her, she pulled out a familiar gauntlet. "Think about it. What did Gluttony suck in?" She put the leather hand back inside the pocket.

The alchemist almost slapped herself. "God, I'm an idiot." She looked at the outline of the gauntlet. "I'm glad Al isn't here now…at least she'll try to get me back…if she doesn't think I'm dead…" She knew she did not think she was dead, but once more, she had that niggling feeling.

At last, they came across something large out to stand on – a vst stab of marble. They stepped onto it and sat down for a moment's break.

"I'm beginning to think there isn't a way out of here…" Ling said. "There are things from all eras in here, and judging by their rotting, most of the skeletons aren't recent."

However, the older girl's eyes seemed to brighten rather than dull in despair. "I'll make one!" she turned around on her knees and clapped her hands. "If this really is blood, and then it contains water, amino acids, proteins, carbohydrates, and fat, and if the ground is my theory of muscle…" she placed her hands on the ground and created a hole. Ling smiled. The liquid around them drained like bathwater. She then broke off a rib from a nearby skeleton (uttering a quick apology as she did so), set it alight and threw it down into the hole. They waited. And waited. When the thud still did not come after a few minutes, they young women looked at each other.

"A wall!" they said in unison.

"Yeah, we've been walking a straight line so far. There has to be something keeping all this together, something stopping all the liquid from draining." Edwina said frantically.

"Indeed!"

They set off at a run.

* * *

"Xiao Mei!" Mao wailed, tears running like a river as he stood in the street, no longer having the energy to run. Yoki had joined his all night-search in an attempted to quiet him.

"She's my only friend in Xing…my sister…" the son of the Emperor shook his head as he tried to compose himself, but only fell onto his bottom as he tried to kneel. "I'm in one of the lowest and poorest clans of Xing. We don't even have bodyguards. I would have loved one. Not to mention I'm one of the smallest member. They love me, but treat me like a little child, even though I managed to persuade the great Lady Rui to train me and grew my hair. Xiao Mei was rejected from her family because of her size. She's meant to be a great panda, you see, but an illness stunted her growth. I found her one day in the rain and felt an instant connection." He remembered wondering through the bamboo forest, a palm leaf as his umbrella, the little bear growling at him as it tried to block the path. He had walked slowly over to the creature, which had snapped at him, nicking him on the finger, but he had managed to pacify her with slow, careful movements an offering of rice balls. "Of course, people in my clan said we were a perfect couple, and my family raised her as one of us. I got through the toughest times because of her. And she even serves as my bodyguard." He wiped his face again, still sitting lopsided. "I endured and made it through starvation several times because of her. I made it through the hellish martial arts part of Lady Rui's training because of her. That's why I came to this country, to find immortality, and prove to my family that I am strong, and Xiao Mei wants to show she is tough too, I think. And if I don't, my whole clan will probably disappear. There's only about eleven thounsand of us left!" He started to cry and wail again.

"Please, stop that!" Yoki cried, reaching out to take the boy's shoulders,

Scar stood, drawing his hood as he did so. "There's still a few hours before sunrise. I'll have a look around." He turned his head to the boy. "You get some sleep."

"…thank you!" His face still wet, the boy grabbed the Ishvalan in a tight hug, before sitting back down again. As the man left, he said. "He looks scary, but is really a nice person!"

"Not really…" Yoki muttered.

* * *

While Ling sat down on a drifting piece of brick wall, the alchemist fired the gun upwards this time. It had taken some persuading from the martial artist for her to use it. There was still nothing after the long wait. She turned and fired behind her. More maddening silence.

"How can this be possible?" Edwina cried. "It's physically impossible! It's alchemically impossible!"

Once again, they resumed walking, no other noise sound other than sloshing and breathing.

"H-How long has it been now?" the alchemist asked, panting a little.

"I don't know…but wading through this stuff, my legs are beginning to turn to jelly."

"There…has to be an exit…"

Only a few minutes later, Edwina heard a splash behind her and turned to see Ling no longer by her. She spotted her a few feet away, on her hands and knees, her breathing very pronounced.

"I j-just need…a little break…" the would-be-princess gasped.

Edwina was not so gullible, even her own exhaustion. "Really? You're…" she paused to take breath. "...Giving up so pathetically?" She approached the still slumped female. "So much for being this independent, life-changing future ruler."

"I'll…catch up…" the woman gasped out. "…i-in a while…"

"I might be out by then, and once that happens, I'm not coming back. I've got people waiting too, you know." She returned to walking. In a few more paces she glimpsed again. "Oh well, I guess your clan can find sound some other way to raise themselves and I'm sure Lan Fan will continue fighting for his life when the centre of that existence is gone."

The still weak swordswoman placed her shaking hands and arms firmly on the substance serving as a floor. "Yes…I-I still have my goals…" she tried to stand up, but simply fell onto her bottom. Edwina sighed and closed the distance between them again, and like Winter before, drew one arm over her shoulders while bracing the other around her middle. Also like Winter, she had to bend over somewhat to take the older female's height and weight.

They walked on in silence, the blonde's breathing soon becoming just as laboured as the older within what seemed like minutes. They now felt like they were walking through syrup. Just as they were about to faint for the second time, they came upon another floating piece of marble, perfectly round, and collapsed down upon it until they could find the strength to turn over, still trying to catch their breath. The piece was smaller than the one before (causing their legs to dangle) with symbols etched into its surface, and a triangular shape on one side – a sun dial. It was then both realized just how hungry they were.

"God…" groaned Edwina.

"I can't believe I might die here, and so pathetically…" Ling muttered.

"We…just need to rest a bit…" after a few attempts, the alchemist dragged herself into a sitting position, before reaching down and with some effort, pulled off her left boot and poured the liquid out before squeezing for the rest. "A few months ago, I read a book in another alchemist's library about survival, you know, since I have a knack for getting into trouble. One point said that, if starving, you can eat leather."

"So…" Ling turned her head to the side. "You're going to eat your shoes? Good luck. I'll just go hungry, thanks."

"You'll need to eat too."

"I am not eating shoes!"

"Then I'll—"

"If you even try, when I'm the Empress, I'll have the historians write – 'Edwina Elric, the first Amestrian I ever met, tried to feed me her shoes'."

"It would be better to write 'Edwina Elric, the second Amestrian I ever met' – it was Al who found you – 'ensured I lived to obtain my right to right to rule'."

Ling lay her head back down. "…How I know you don't have some kind of infection?"

The alchemist scowled, and pointed at the exposed foot. "Metal doesn't get infections!"

"What about rust?"

"Pinako and Winter Rockbell's products never rust!"

However, as the shoes boiled for the hours that it needed, the would-be-princess found herself moving closer to the makeshift cooker. It was only curiously of course. Several hours later, Edwina was serving the 'meal', cooked in purified blood-water on to crude, makeshift plates. They just needed their hands and teeth.

"I really was being weak back there," Ling said as they finished, both feeling much more energized if slightly nauseated.

"It's fine," Edwina replied, looking off at nothing in particular. "This is isn't the worst I've had. That award goes to my alchemy teacher's training and the two times where I thought I had lost my sister as well as my mother."

"It is for me…and this is taking into account the fact that I've had to avoid assassination attempts in my childhood. Every Emperor-born child has to at least once. From those, I slowly realised I was not just another normal member, and when I was old enough, twelve, I began formulating my plan. I just hope this is the biggest adversity. What was your childhood like?"

Edwina froze at the question. "Well…" She sighed. "…You did tell me a bit of yours. Our father left when we were very young, and our mother died a few years later. We tried Human Transmutation, a taboo alchemy experiment, to try and bring her and…that's how we ended up like this."

"Did…did it work?" Ling asked.

"Of course not!" the blonde retorted.

"Sorry."

"It's ok. I just thought you were asking so you could attempt it."

The swordswoman found a small smile on her face as she said, "It's now no wonder we didn't get along at first. We are so similar…" her voice faded as she turned her gaze to the way they had come.

The Amestrian tensed. "What is it?"

"Something is coming."

Edwina heard the splashing and sloshing, before Envy came into view.

"Ah, there you are," it said with a frown as it stopped a few feet away. Ling stood in warning.

"You couldn't by any change tell us where the exit is, can you?" Edwina asked flatly. "I'll spare you if you do."

"Now _you're_ the one being weak!" Ling yelled at her. "What kind of warrior bows down to their enemy?!"

"I'm not 'bowing down'! It's a compromise, for survival!"

"Compromises are never kept! How do you know that thing won't attack you the minute we've out?!"

"There is no exit," Envy chipped in. The humans looked at it, eyes narrowed, but it did not see as its eyes were closed as it shook its head. "Why was Lust the only person Gluttony listened to? Even when Father tells him to do something, he had to channel it through Lust." It opened its eyes and looked at the young women. "Before you ask, I'm suprized you actually thought this place had an exist, Goldilocks. This place should be familiar."

"Huh?" It took only a trice. "The eye is familiar, but… " Envy made circular motion with its hands, in the manner of gears turning. "…the Gate!"

"There you go."

"But that place was completely white and nothing but the Doors, and where's Truth?"

The wispy-haired being placed its hands on its hips. "This is a failed Gate. Father didn't have the power to create a Gate himself, so Gluttony was born instead."

All the hope drained from the Fullmetal Alchemist's being. Ling was just confused, with a touch of fear due to the change in her friend's expression

"Liar!" Edwina cried, her hands balling. _If I die, Al might be stuck as armour forever…_

"Idiot!" Envy shot back. "This place is outside reality. There's no way out. All we can do is wait for our lives to peter out!"

"Why would you father need to open the Gate so badly that he tried to create one?!" if she escaped the real Gate, she could escape this. "And who is he anyway? Führer Bradley?"

"Ha!" huffed the homunculus. "Bradley's nothing but a brat."

_A brat…?_ Ling thought.

"So the Führer really is a homunculus?" the older Elric asked.

"Yup. Man, you're slow." Envy sniggered.

The older Elric's teeth clenched. "So…this means that the civil war was a part of your plans as well?"

Envy smiled the biggest grin it ever had, from ear to ear. "Ah, there'll never be a war as great as Ishval. You remember how it started?"

"Yes…"

"I was the one who shot that child!" the creature's eyes grow manically wide. "Boy did that feel good. A whole war from a single shot! Humans are so easy to manipulate. And what's more, all that happened to the real soldier was court-marshalling. Well, until I killed him just in case."

Edwina began running forwards, Ling by her side. She did not know much about the war, but knowing this creature had killed a child was all she needed.

"You took away Winry's parents!" Edwina cried as she pelted forwards, alchemising her blade. "You caused the death thousands of innocents, and drove the Ishvalans from their home! You destroyed my home and led to existence of Scar!" Giving a wordless cry, she sliced Envy across the stomach while Ling delivered a punch to its jaw. But this time, the creature didn't even flinch, the wound healing near instantly, its head not moving an inch. Shoving the humans back with just one hand pressed against their chests, the creature said, "I told you I don't want to fight…but I figured you still would, so I want to give you a proper challenge." The girls watched as the homunculus's body began to twist and mutate, its teeth lengthening, its jaw stretching, skin hardening into scales, a tail bursting from its spine.

"Ed, you need to be careful," Ling said, remembering. "It's stronger than it looks."

"Well, so am I," the Amestrian growled, her blood practically boiling, even though fear bubbled at the rapidly changing site before them.

"No, listen," she placed a hand on her friends shoulder, causing her to look at her. "As you might say, its humanoid forms are far denser than they should be. Its footfalls are deep, and its hits very hard. It tried to strangle me earlier, and nearly crushed my throat. My guess is, Lan Fan could only damage it by tapping into his qi, something I cannot do. I am a match for it in skills, but not power."

"It's true form must be huge…just more to hurt, then…I have alchemy on my side."

Ling was about to shout at her, when the two heard a massive splash in front of them. They had only a moment to look upon the true monster in front of them before having to run from a mighty swipe of claws, but it was they needed. It was a rotting green lizard-like beast, with four pairs of legs, reptilian eyes, yet a still vaguely human face, and a long, black mane. However, the most disturbing feature of the beast was, producing all along its body and face, were the faces and limbs of humans. They were moving and moaning, reaching out like drowning swimmers.

"This is what your alchemy creates?" Ling exclaimed from her perch above the younger female, on a pillar. "This is what immortality looks like?!"

"This is what the _misuse_ of alchemy creates!" Edwina cried back.

Ling back flipped to avoid a slash from Envy's other front claw. This time, Edwina took the full force of a swung of its tail, its speed too fast for its size. A several cracks accompanied the whump. She laid in the pool the pool of blood for a few moments of coughing and gasping before going limp. Her heart pounding for what was now more than just one reason, the martial artist jumped and swerved and ducked as she ran towards the blonde. Reaching her, she heaved the alchemist over her shoulder, before turning and pelting away.

Outside, the rising sun was peeking through the trees. Alphonsa sat with her legs crossed, her eyes dark in concentration. She did not even twitch as a bird landed on her horn to warm himself in the rays. Xiao Mei sat next to her the whole time, watching and waiting. Gluttony had been circling her nearly the whole night, a curious expression in his face, but had finally became bored a few minutes ago, instead concerning himself with his little accident.

"Daddy's going to be so angry with me…" He muttered, tears brimming as he sucked on one of his fingers like a child.

Alphonsa looked up "…You have a father…?" Perhaps she could get her ideas by interrogating the creature.

"Um-hm." the plump man nodded, still sucking its finger.

"He created the homunculi?"

"Um-hm."

_So, one person created all of them? He must be one powerful alchemist…and might he'll know where the things Gluttony eats goes…_

"Gluttony," she said, shuffling to face him and trying to sound friendly. "I'm sorry for hurting you, but you know siblinghood, right? Your family being killed made you angry, and losing my sister made me angry. I understand that it's an accident, but I still need to get her back. Can you take me to your father?"

"You're not supposed to come yet…" the youngest homunculus said.

"But you just said you'll get into trouble for swallowing the 'sacrifice', Nee-san, I assume, so if we can get her back, maybe you won't be punished as much. Please? I'll leave you alone if you do. I'll have no reason to go after you then." She wished she could smile.

"…That might work," Gluttony said eventually. Clambering to his feet, he started trotting towards the city.

* * *

**Author's Note:**** I've began to notice that I'm making Alphonsa a wee bit manipulative. I mean, I also noticed I'm making her more willing to fight (but like her male counterpart, she does not it when necessary), but, to me, would make sense that she uses her mind as well, her cute, child-like voice, her sweet-girl personality, to her advantage sometimes.**

**I'm rather looking forward to the fore coming meeting of the Elrics and Father, and I'm hoping I can put some twists on that (I have a few in mind, as I said before).**

**Oh, and sorry this came out a bit late (I was a bit unmotivated for a few days…).**

**As usual, thank you ^_^.**


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